Department for Transport

Taxis

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Law Commission’s report on Taxi and Private Hire Services, May 2014, if the Government will implement recommendation 21.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Since the Law Commission’s comprehensive review of taxi and private hire regulation in England and Wales the sector has undergone profound and rapid change. At a Westminster Hall Debate last year, the Rt Hon John Hayes MP announced the formation of a Task and Finish group to consider any regulatory issues and remedies, including the Commission’s recommendations. I am grateful to my honourable friend for the time she has dedicated as a member of this group and look forward to considering the recommendations contained in the group’s report.

Taxis

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when minsters of his Department last met with members of the Department's working group on taxis and private hire licensing, and what the outcomes of those meetings were.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Task and Finish group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicles was established by the then Minister of State for Transport, John Hayes, and was in regular contact with the Chair to discuss the progress of the group. I intend to meet with the Chair shortly and look forward to receiving the group’s findings soon.

Taxis: Disability

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to ensure people with disabilities are represented on his Department's taxi and private hire working group; and if he will make a statement.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Task and Finish group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicles was established by the then Minister of State for Transport, John Hayes, and has received submissions from a number of disability representation organisations. I look forward to receiving the group’s findings soon.

Carillion

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the financial effect on the High Speed Two project of Carillion entering liquidation; and if he will publish that assessment.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The CEK joint venture has provided HS2 Ltd with assurances that in the event any member of the group being unable to deliver on its responsibilities, the remaining members, now Eiffage and Kier, would fill the gap.

Infrastructure: Training

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support the development of skills specifically to help deliver the Government's infrastructure programmes.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: We are on the front foot in ensuring we have the skills needed to deliver transport infrastructure investment. We have a comprehensive skills strategy and are making excellent progress on its delivery. There is strong collaboration across the sector – with roads and rail; freight; maritime and ports and aviation (Heathrow) through the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce. 2,000 apprenticeships were created last year and we expect up to 35,000 more in road and rail by 2022, exceeding our initial ambition.

Department for Transport: Beverage Containers

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate has been made of the number of single use disposable cups that are (a) used each year and (b) sent for recycling by his Department.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: (a) The department estimates single use disposable cups per year of 31,117. (b) Of this figure; at least 22,800 are recyclable cups.

High Speed Two: Redundancy Pay

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to recover the £1.7million of unauthorised redundancy payments made by HS2; and if he will make a statement.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: We have made clear to HS2 Ltd that we expect them to always meet their obligations and responsibilities to the taxpayer. The progress of HS2 should not come at the expense of proper control over public money and HS2 Ltd fully accepts and understands this. However, HS2 Ltd have a legal obligation to honour the redundancy payments made to individuals who were employed and so will not be seeking their recovery. HS2 Ltd will manage these payments within their existing budgets and as such the Department for Transport will not be providing any additional funds to cover these costs. HS2 Ltd are putting in place controls to ensure that this does not happen again.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Training

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to improve the professional competence requirements of drivers of HGVs, especially for HGVs that are over three tons in weight.

Jesse Norman: The competence of professional heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers is initially assessed as part of a rigorous licence testing process, which includes a theory and hazard perception test and a practical on-road driving test. Those tests are supplemented by the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) initial qualification assessments - a case studies test and a practical demonstration test. Driver competence is maintained through the completion of 35 hours periodic training every five years. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency ensures that such training is of a high standard, through the annual approval of periodic training courses and regular audits of approved training providers.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Training

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence system in evaluating the competence of HGV drivers.

Jesse Norman: The European Commission initiated a review of the effectiveness of the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) in 2013. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) supported the Commission in this review and received 1,318 responses from UK drivers and operators. The Commission is currently considering amendments to the content and delivery of driver CPC training in light of that review. The DVSA will work with the Commission and industry stakeholders to ensure that any changes are implemented in a way that supports the development of professional standards of UK drivers.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Qualifications

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what checks are made on the qualification of HGV drivers from other countries when they arrive in the UK.

Jesse Norman: Drivers of heavy goods vehicles (HGV) and commercial Passenger vehicles from across the EU, including the UK, are required to obtain a driver certificate of professional competence (known as CPC). The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) takes a targeted approach to enforcement to minimise the risk of non-compliant drivers and vehicles using the road network. When UK or non-UK vehicles are stopped at a check site, the DVSA will request to see evidence of the driver’s CPC. If a driver fails to produce this evidence, they will be issued with a fixed penalty or, where they have not completed the qualification, they can be prosecuted.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Training

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether there is a comparable certificate of competence for HGV drivers that is checked when HGVs arrive at UK ports.

Jesse Norman: Drivers of heavy goods vehicles (HGV) and commercial Passenger vehicles from across the EU, including the UK, are required to obtain a driver certificate of professional competence (known as CPC). The regulations came into force in 2008 for bus and coach drivers, and 2009 for goods vehicle drivers; existing drivers were given a 5-year period (called acquired rights) in which to undertake the training and, as such, were not required to produce evidence until 2013/14.‎ The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) takes a targeted approach to enforcement to minimise the risk of non-compliant drivers and vehicles using the road network. When UK or non-UK vehicles are stopped at a check site, the DVSA will request to see evidence of the driver’s CPC. If a driver fails to produce this evidence, they will be issued with a fixed penalty or, where they have not completed the qualification, they can be prosecuted.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Training

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what regular checks are carried out on the competence of instructors who train HGV drivers.

Jesse Norman: Instructors who provide heavy goods vehicle (HGV) training are not regulated, and are not subject to mandatory standards checks by the Government.

Large Goods Vehicles: Training

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many certificates of professional competence for drivers of HGVs over three tons were issued in each of the last five years.

Jesse Norman: The number of Driver Qualification Cards (DQCs) that the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has issued to professional drivers over the last five complete financial years is shown in the table below: 2012-131233972013-142753042014-153581742015-16824622016-1773426 These numbers include both lorry and bus/coach drivers.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of changing the repayment system for Vehicle Excise Duty so that money is paid directly into bank accounts instead of by cheque.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is currently undertaking a programme of large scale technical change to enhance its services. As part of this work, the DVLA is reviewing the way refunds of vehicle excise duty are paid.

Aviation: Egypt

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of resuming direct flights to Sharm El Sheikh from the UK.

Jesse Norman: The Department carries out regular assessments of aviation security at all last points of departure airports to the UK from Egypt. The Government works closely with international partners, including airlines, airports and the Egyptian Government, on security standards. Global aviation security arrangements are kept under constant review. The Department looks forward to achieving the return of flights once it can be assured that the necessary security environment can be sustained.

Delivery Services: Self-employed

Johnny Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of ensuring (a) delivery riders and (b) bike messengers are insured when working on a self-employed basis.

Jesse Norman: The Government has no current plans to introduce compulsory insurance for delivery cyclists, bicycle messengers, or for cyclists in general, although it encourages all cyclists to take out some form of insurance. There are insurers who offer policies tailored to cyclists who use their bicycle for courier and delivery purposes.

Large Goods Vehicles: EU Law

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has incorporated the changes required under EU Directives 2014/45/EU and 2014/47/EU into the draft heavy goods vehicle inspection manual.

Jesse Norman: The May 2018 draft heavy goods vehicle inspection manual incorporates the changes required by Directive 2014/45/EU, as do the draft public service vehicle manual, and the draft MOT inspection manual for classes 3, 4, 5 & 7. Directive 2014/47/EU, which is relevant to roadside inspection and the categorisation of defects, is currently being amended to incorporate the changes to this directive.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Renewable Energy: Contracts

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons a second pot 1 auction has not taken place under the contract for difference scheme; and what plans he has to conduct such a second pot 1 auction.

Claire Perry: No decisions have been made on further contract for difference (CfD) allocation rounds for the Pot 1 technologies.

Energy: Prices

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of removing the right for energy companies to appeal to the Competition and Markets Authority under the draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill on the ability of energy suppliers to (a) formulate business plans and (b) invest in the UK energy market.

Claire Perry: The draft Bill would place a new duty on Ofgem to implement a cap on standard variable and default tariffs, and provides a bespoke power for Ofgem to implement the price cap through an amendment to the licence conditions. Energy companies would be able to appeal an Ofgem decision on whether to proceed with the licence modification by way of judicial review. It does not remove an existing right of appeal.

Energy: Prices

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons the draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill proposes to vest in him rather than Ofgem the power to remove the energy price cap in 2020 or to allow it to be extended.

Claire Perry: The decision to implement a price cap will be made by Parliament approving a Government Bill on a matter that was a manifesto commitment. It is right for Government to decide whether the price cap would remain in place, after a report and recommendation from Ofgem.

Fuel Poverty: Rural Areas

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the levels of fuel poverty in rural communities.

Claire Perry: In 2015, households in England in Rural areas were more likely to be in fuel poverty (13.6%) compared to both households in Semi-Rural areas (10.5%) and households in Urban areas (10.8%). Rural households made up 10.5 per cent of the total number of fuel poor households, whereas Semi-Rural households made up 9.1 per cent of fuel poor households, and Urban households made up 80.5 per cent of fuel poor households. The data attached is from Table 5 of our fuel poverty detailed tables which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fuel-poverty-detailed-tables-2017Rurality definitions come from the Office for National Statistics (ONS): ‘Rural’ – Villages, hamlets and isolated dwellings; ‘Semi-Rural’ – Towns and fringe; ‘Urban’ – Urban. 



Table 5
(PDF Document, 84.52 KB)

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many contracts his Department holds with government strategic suppliers.

Richard Harrington: From the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s, centrally held contract register (which shows contracts with a whole-life value in excess of £100k only) we have identified the following contracts strategic suppliers:- SupplierNumber of contractsCapita8CGI1IBM (UK) Limited1Serco2Total12

Carillion

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the number of SMEs affected by the liquidation of Carillion.

Andrew Griffiths: The nature of Carillion business means that it sub-contracts significant proportions of its work, with the potential for those sub-contractors to sub-contract out further elements. The complexity of the contracting structure is such that it is not possible for Government at this stage in the liquidation process to have a complete picture of the number of SMEs affected.

Small Businesses: Government Assistance

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support he plans to give to SMEs affected by the liquidation of Carillion.

Andrew Griffiths: My rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and I are working to ensure information is provided to SMEs in the Carillion supply chain in a timely manner.The Secretary of State has chaired two meetings of a taskforce to advise on the impact on small businesses affected by the Carillion insolvency on 18 and 22 January. The taskforce’s attendees included representatives from leading business bodies, the construction trade sector, unions, banks and government.In addition I have met leading business and construction trade bodies, representing Carillion’s sub-contractors, on 3 occasions in the last 10 days to understand the impact of Carillion’s insolvency on the supply chain, and agree actions that could be taken to mitigate this. It is our intention to continue to meet regularly with this group on an ongoing basis.The Secretary of State and I met major high street lenders on 17 January 2018 to seek assurances that they will not penalise small businesses affected by Carillion’s liquidation. Lenders are contacting customers and, where appropriate, are putting in place emergency measures, including overdraft extensions, payment holidays and fee waivers to ensure those facing short term issues can be helped to stay on track. Details of these can be found athttps://www.ukfinance.org.uk/banks-offer-support-to-business-customers-impacted-by-carillion/.The Department is providing a range of advice and support services for firms, delivered both nationally and locally available to SMEs affected by the insolvency of Carillion. These include a network of 38 Local Growth Hubs, run in conjunction with the Local Enterprise Partnership, to help businesses of all sizes and in all sectors to access support.Information is published online by the Insolvency Service for employees, creditors and suppliers affected and seeking advice. In addition to providing current information, they provide a dedicated hotline for enquiries and contact numbers to other relevant organisations such as the Pensions Advisory Service, and the website PwC have been established to provide information.These can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/carillion-declares-insolvency-information-for-employees-creditors-and-suppliers.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Mexico: Human Rights

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made an assessment he has made of the effect on human rights of the new security reform law in Mexico; and if he will make statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: Mexico's Law on Internal Security (pending a Supreme Court ruling on constitutionality) seeks to provide a legal framework for the military's role in public security. It has yet to be enforced, so its impact remains unclear. We are concerned by certain aspects of the law, including its weaknesses in civilian oversight and accountability.

Religious Freedom

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to tackle faith-based persecution overseas; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Field: The protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) is a priority of Her Majesty's Government's foreign policy and will continue to be so. In their interactions with foreign governments, Foreign and Commonwealth Office ministers and officials routinely raise individual cases and highlight practices and laws that discriminate against people on the basis of their religion or belief.The United Kingdom also actively promotes FoRB through multilateral diplomacy. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) minister with responsibility for human rights, Lord Ahmad, stressed the importance of working to defend the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) when he addressed the UN Human Rights Council in September 2017.The FCO is also supporting a number of projects to promote tolerance through the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy. Current projects include work to support human rights defenders in South and Central Asia.

China: Aviation

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received from the Taipei Representative Office on the announcement by the Civil Aviation Administration of China that it plans to will activate air routes M503, W121, W122 and W123 that are close to Taiwan’s Flight Information Region.

Mark Field: ​The Taipei Representative Office in London has contacted the UK Government to express its concern regarding the announcement by the Chinese authorities to activate air routes M503, W121, W122 and W123.

China: Aviation

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the announcement of 4 January 2019 by the Civil Aviation Administration of China that it will activate four air routes M503, W121, W122 and W123 close to Taiwan’s Flight Information Region, what assessment he has made of the effect of that policy on relations between Taiwan and China.

Mark Field: ​We understand that the opening of the four new air routes in the Taiwan Strait on 4 January is a cause of concern for the authorities in Taiwan.Her Majesty's Government is assessing whether the introduction of these new northbound flights in the Straits will have any impact on aviation safety in the region.In line with our longstanding position, we encourage China and Taiwan to engage in peaceful dialogue to resolve this issue.

Egypt: Land Mines

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to encourage the Egyptian Government to accede to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction.

Alistair Burt: As one of its founding signatories, the UK is a strong supporter of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. We regularly encourage states who have not signed the Convention to do so, as promoting universal adherence to the Convention is a top priority in the area of human security and disarmament.

Egypt and Libya: Land Mines

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of World War Two era mines that remain un-disposed of in the Tobruk and El-Alamein regions.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold current estimates on the number of World War Two era mines that remain un-disposed of in the Tobruk and El-Alamein regions. The package of UK support to Libya announced in August 2017 includes £1 million this year to fund demining training and education across the country and increase the capacity of Libyan authorities to deal with explosive hazards. The UK has supported demining in Egypt since 2006 through multilateral funding along with other donors including Germany, Japan, New Zealand and the US. The projects have funded clearance of 130,446 acres of land around El Alamein, provision of artificial limbs for 479 land mine victims, and three mine risk education campaigns benefiting 160,000 individuals. The UK has previously provided maps of minefield locations to the Egyptian authorities.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his counterpart in Saudi Arabia on the effect of Saudi Arabia's airstrikes in Yemen on the civilian population.

Alistair Burt: We are acutely aware that during armed conflict, civilians often pay a heavy price. It is essential that all parties to the conflict in Yemen, including Houthi forces, comply with International Humanitarian Law (IHL). We regularly raise the importance of IHL compliance with the Saudi-led Coalition, and when allegations of IHL are made, we insist that they are investigated and that any lessons are acted upon. We have also provided training to support the ability of the Saudi-led Coalition to comply with IHL.

South Sudan: Economic Situation

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the economic situation in South Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: The continuing collapse of the South Sudanese economy is exacerbating the already dire humanitarian and security situation. The World Bank expects the economy to contract by nearly 7 percent in 2017-18 due to ongoing conflict and disruption to oil production. The currency continues to depreciate and inflation remains stubbornly high at over 100 percent a year. Average household incomes have fallen by 80 percent since 2013 and 1.5 million people are on the brink of famine, more than twice as many as in January 2017. The solution to the economic and humanitarian crises is peace. The UK is playing an active role in peace talks and encourages all parties to enter the next round of the High Level Revitalisation Forum with a genuine commitment to peace.

South Sudan: Conflict Resolution

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support he is giving to the High Level Revitalisation Forum in South Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK is working closely with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the United States and Norway, and the wider international community, to give the High Level Revitalisation Forum the best chance of success. The UK Special Representative for Sudan and South Sudan participated in the first round of talks and is supporting preparations for the second round of talks, scheduled to take place in February. We are calling on all parties to end violations of the Cessation of Hostilities and to enter into the next round of talks with a genuine commitment to making progress.

Mauritania: Religious Freedom

Bim Afolami: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the level of religious freedom in Mauritania; and what steps the Government is taking to promote and protect the right to freedom of religion or belief in that country.

Alistair Burt: ​The Mauritanian Constitution establishes that Islam is the religion of its citizens and the State. The UK Government has raised the importance of Freedom of Religion or Belief with the Mauritanian Government on a number of occasions, and is committed to working with international partners to protect this freedom. Our Ambassador raised the issue of human rights in Mauritania with the Mauritanian Foreign Minister on 17 January.

Vietnam: Religious Freedom

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the level of religious freedom in Vietnam; and what steps the Government is taking to promote and protect the right to freedom of religion or belief in that country.

Mark Field: ​Vietnam's new Law on Religion and Belief came into effect on 1 January 2018. While it reduces the time required for religious groups to obtain official recognition it still retains many of the burdensome restrictions from previous Laws.We raise our concerns about human rights on a regular basis with the Vietnamese government both bilaterally and through multilateral fora. At the most recent UK-Vietnam Strategic dialogue between 4 abd 6 January 2018, I raised concerns regarding the strict control of civil and political rights in Vietnam, including freedom of expression and assembly, and the need for the Vietnamese government to create space for civil society. Freedom of religion and belief was included on the agenda at the recent EU-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue which took place in December 2017. The EU raised concerns about harassment and attacks against religious communities in Vietnam, and urged the Vietnamese government to ensure that the new Law on Religion and Belief is implemented in line with international standards.

Saudi Arabia: Iran

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to convene an international conference to help to resolve tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Alistair Burt: A stable Middle East is in every nation's interests. The UK engages regularly, at all levels, with both Saudi Arabia and Iran, including on regional issues. We raise our concern about Iran's destabilising regional activity with the Iranian Government directly, at every opportunity. We continue to work with Saudi Arabia and Iran to build regional peace and stability.

Israel: Occupied Territories

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the compliance with international law of the Israeli occupation of Shebaa Farms.

Alistair Burt: Whilst we have not made an assessment on this specific issue, we consider the Shebaa Farms, within the Golan region, to be Occupied Territory. We continue to call on Israel, as the occupying power, to uphold its obligations under international law. This includes abiding by UN Security Council Resolution 497 (1981) and the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Iran: Protest

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on human rights of the actions of the Iranian government during the protests that took place in that country from 28 December 2017.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign Secretary has made clear that the Iranian people should be able to freely express themselves and to demonstrate peacefully within the law. We look to the Iranian authorities to permit this. We are concerned by reports of mass arrests and deaths in custody, and by restrictions on freedom of expression, in particular the suspension of popular messaging application, Telegram.

Forced Marriage

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many cases were referred to the Forced Marriage Unit in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014, (d) 2015 and (e) 2016; how many of those cases were referred to the Crown Prosecution Service in each of those years.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK is a world leader in the fight to stamp out the brutal practice of forced marriage, with our dedicated Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) leading efforts to combat it both at home and abroad. The FMU gives advice or support through its public helpline or by email. In 2012, this amounted to 1,485 cases related to a possible forced marriage; 1,302 cases in 2013; 1,267 cases in 2014; 1,220 cases in 2015; and 1,428 cases in 2016. The FMU public statistics are published annually here: www.gov.uk/guidance/forced-marriage#statistics-on-forced-marriage-collected-by-fmu. The FMU works closely with UK statutory agencies such as the police and social services, but does not refer cases directly to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Department of Health and Social Care

Ovarian Cancer: Drugs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for the introduction of new medicines to help prevent the spread of ovarian cancer.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a number of technology appraisal guidance documents on the treatment of ovarian cancer. NICE technology appraisal guidance makes recommendations for the National Health Service on whether drugs and treatments represent a clinically and cost effective use of resources. NHS commissioners are legally required to fund drugs and treatments recommended through the technology appraisal programme within three months. NICE has positively appraised guidance on use of “Paclitaxel in the treatment of ovarian cancer” (TA:55), published in May 2005; “Olaparib for maintenance treatment of relapsed, platinum-sensitive, BRCA mutation-positive ovarian, fallopian tube and peritoneal cancer after response to second-line or subsequent platinum-based chemotherapy” (TA:381), published in January 2016; and, “Topotecan, pegylated liposomal doxorubicin hydrochloride, paclitaxel, trabectedin and gemcitabine for treating recurrent ovarian cancer” (TA:389), published in April 2016.

Diabetes: Drugs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with GPs and clinical bodies on improving the rate at which diabetics take their medications.

Steve Brine: The appropriate use of prescribed medication for diabetes, and any actions to support this, can form part of the annual reviews between general practitioners and their diabetes patients. NHS England is also overseeing the investment of diabetes transformation funding towards improved access to diabetes structured education within individual clinical commissioning groups.

Carillion

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many facilities management contracts Carillion plc holds with NHS Trusts.

Stephen Barclay: Information on the facilities management services provided through a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) agreement by Carillion at National Health Service trusts is provided in the table below. Of the 13 PFI agreements, 12 of these were agreed prior to May 2010. These are building maintenance, usually referred to as ‘Hard’ Facilities Management or ‘Hard FM’; and non-clinical support services (one of or a combination of cleaning, portering, laundry and others), usually referred to as ‘Soft’ Facilities Management or ‘Soft FM’. TrustServicesDate of PFI Contract AwardCambridge University Hospitals NHS TrustHard FM only27 October 2004Dartford and Gravesham NHS TrustHard and Soft FM30 July 1997Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation TrustHard FM only9 October 2007Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustHard and Soft FM5 October 1999Leicestershire Partnership NHS TrustHard FM only19 June 2007Lincolnshire Community NHS TrustHard FM only1 May 2007North Bristol NHS TrustHard FM only25 February 2010North Staffordshire Combined HealthcareHard and Soft FM8 December 1999Oxford University Hospitals NHS TrustHard and Soft FM19 December 2003Portsmouth Hospitals NHS TrustHard and Soft FM15 December 2005South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustHard and Soft FM16 August 1999Tees, Esk and Wear NHS Foundation TrustHard FM only12 December 2007The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS TrustHard FM only13 December 2013 Services provided by Carillion under direct contracts with an NHS trust (outside a PFI agreement):- Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust;- Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; and- Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.Information on the award dates of these contracts is not held centrally.

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) doctors, (b) nurses) and (c) other clinical staff worked at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon in (i) May 2010 and (ii) the most recent date for which data is available.

Stephen Barclay: Data is not available in the format requested. NHS Digital publishes workforce statistics, and is only available to the level of individual trusts and clinical commissioning groups. Nationally, the latest workforce statistics show an increase in professionally qualified clinical staff of almost 42,700 since May 2010, including over 14,900 more doctors and almost 14,200 more nurses on our wards since May 2010.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people presenting at A&E who do not require hospital treatment.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Digital and NHS England’s joint ‘Hospital Accident and Emergency Activity 2016-17’ publication shows accident and emergency (A&E) activity in the 2016-17 financial year. The publication shows the number of attendances categorised by ‘first A&E treatment’, including those which were subsequently categorised as not needing hospital treatment. These are categorised as “none (consider guidance/advice option)”.The data for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 financial years is available in the table below: YearNumber of A&E attendances not requiring hospital treatmentPercentage of all A&E attendances2015-162,164,82810.6%2016-172,117,04910.1%Source: Hospital Accident and Emergency Activity 2016-17 The ‘Hospital Accident and Emergency Activity 2016-17’ publication is available via the link below: http://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB30112

General Practitioners

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospitals have a GP co-located on site to provide triage services for patients.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Improvement report that in December 2017 (2017-18 Quarter 3), 134 out of 136 (98.5%) trusts with a Type 1 accident and emergency department have primary care streaming in place. This is an improvement from the November 2017 (Quarter 2) position of 91% (125/136) and the July 2017 (Quarter 1) position of 30% (41/136). There are two trusts still to implement primary care streaming (Isle of Wight NHS Trust and Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust). NHS Improvement are working with these trusts on implementation. Birmingham Women and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are exempt based on local requirements.

Influenza: Vaccination

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of stocks of flu vaccines in (a) York and (b) England.

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to increase the supply of flu vaccines to areas in the event that there are shortfalls of such vaccines during Winter 2017-18.

Steve Brine: Flu vaccines for people aged 18 years and older are procured directly from manufacturers and suppliers by providers. The procurement and distribution of flu vaccines for the children’s aspect of the national flu programme is managed by Public Health England. Flu vaccine remains available to order from manufacturers and suppliers across England for both the adult and the children’s aspects of the national flu immunisation programme. Officials are continuously monitoring the flu vaccine supply landscape to enable timely and appropriate action to be taken in the event that demand begins to outweigh the amount of flu vaccine that is currently available to patients.

Hospitals: Parking

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's guidance on NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles, last updated on 29 October 2015, whether he has had discussions with local authorities in Essex on what constitutes a reasonable charge to park at a hospital in Essex for (a) one hour, (b) four hours, (c) one day and (d) one week.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's guidance on NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles, last updated on 29 October 2015, whether he has had discussions with local authorities in London on what constitutes a reasonable charge to park at a hospital in London for (a) one hour, (b) four hours, (c) one day and (d) one week.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's guidance on NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles, last updated on 29 October 2015, whether he has had discussions with local authorities in Harlow on what constitutes a reasonable charge to park at a hospital in Harlow for (a) one hour, (b) four hours, (c) one day and (d) one week.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's guidance on NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles, last updated on 29 October 2015, whether he has had discussions with local authorities in the East of England on what constitutes a reasonable charge to park at a hospital in that region for (a) one hour, (b) four hours, (c) one day and (d) one week.

Stephen Barclay: The Department does not discuss car parking charges with local organisations. The provision of parking spaces and the level of any charges that are made to use them are matters for individual National Health Service organisations. Details of charges, concessions and additional charges should be well publicised including at car park entrances, wherever payment is made and inside the hospital. They should also be included on the hospital website and on patient letters and forms, where appropriate. The Department published guidelines (the car parking principles) for NHS organisations that they are expected to follow.

Life Sciences

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to ensure that the UK enters the top quartile of comparator countries for the speed of adoption and overall uptake of innovative treatments as recommended in the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy.

Steve Brine: Comparisons of uptake of medicines between different countries with different health systems are difficult and should be treated with caution. However, we are committed to working with industry on this issue and share the ambition to maximise the appropriate use of innovation in our system and tackle unwarranted variation in uptake. The Government and industry are currently working together through a series of workshops that will provide the foundation for the next medicines pricing scheme, and discussions around uptake, adoption and metrics have been a feature of those early meetings. The recent Government and partner bodies response to the Accelerated Access Review sets out how we will work with industry and the health system to create a streamlined and sophisticated approvals system so that cost-effective breakthrough products – be they drugs, devices, digital or diagnostics – can get into the National Health Service as fast as possible.

Life Sciences

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the formal role of NHS England will be in delivering an effective Life Sciences Industrial Strategy and Sector Deal.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The National Health Service will be a key partner in the delivery of the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy (LSIS) and Sector Deal. We are working with sector representatives to establish a Life Sciences Council which will oversee the LSIS and future phases of the Deal. Chaired by the Secretaries of State, the Council will include NHS England, and sector representatives. An Implementation Board, responsible for delivery of the first Sector Deal, will report to this Council, reviewing progress against objectives at quarterly meetings. Similarly, we expect to see governance bringing together broad representation from across the health sector, including the Government and NHS England.

Life Sciences

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures will be included within NHS England’s mandate for 2018-19 to formalise its role in implementing the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is currently developing its approach to the mandate to NHS England for 2018-19, in light of the extra £2.8 billion to 2019/20 provided through the Autumn Budget to support the National Health Service. Both NHS England and Healthwatch England are involved in its development as statutory consultees.

Life Sciences

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to update and evolve value assessments of drugs, medical devices and diagnostics, as recommended in the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is committed to playing its part in delivering the vision set out in the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy. Ensuring that appraisals are fit for purpose in a fast-changing sector is critical. NICE has recently taken steps to do this by introducing changes to its processes to support faster access to the most effective treatments, while addressing affordability issues. In addition, NICE has recently consulted on further changes to streamline its technology appraisal processes so that it is better able to develop new guidance on innovative drugs and medical technologies. As set out in the response to the Accelerated Access Review, we are also introducing a new Accelerated Access Pathway, to streamline regulatory and market access decisions for a small number of products, getting breakthrough products that we believe will be truly transformative to patients even more quickly.

Orkambi

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the extension of Orkambi's licence to treat patients aged six and over, what support his Department is giving to further negotiations among NICE, NHS England and the drug manufacturer, Vertex, on access to that medicine for people with cystic fibrosis.

Steve Brine: The Department wants patients with cystic fibrosis to benefit from clinically and cost effective treatments, and we welcome the on-going dialogue between Vertex and NHS England to pursue a deal that would make Orkambi available to National Health Service patients.

Asthma: Drugs

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the average yearly cost to patients of paying for prescribed asthma medication.

Steve Brine: The Department has made no such estimate. FP10 prescriptions forms do not specify what clinical indication the medicine/device is being prescribed for, therefore the requested data is not collected.

British Nationals Abroad: Health Services

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what reciprocal health agreements he plans to put in place to allow continued access to health care for disabled UK citizens in EU member states after the UK has left the EU.

Stephen Barclay: The United Kingdom Government has made clear that it wishes to see the existing reciprocal healthcare arrangements with the European Union continued after the UK leaves the EU. All UK-insured residents, including those with disabilities, benefit from the reciprocal healthcare arrangements currently in place and the Government is working to ensure this access to healthcare in EU member states continues on the same terms as they do after the UK leaves the EU. In the meantime, while the UK remains a member of the EU, it will continue to respect the rights and honour the obligations of EU membership and so the current arrangements remain in place.

Migrant Workers: Medical Examinations

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what impact assessment his Department has undertaken on the effect of implementing a new recognition test on EU/EEA trained medical professionals on timescales for appointment of medical professionals.

Stephen Barclay: The Government is undertaking a comprehensive programme of analytical work on all scenarios relating to exiting the European Union. The United Kingdom recognises the importance of recognition of qualifications for different sectors in the UK, including medical professionals. That is why we are committed to securing a continued system for the mutual recognition of professional qualifications as part of a bold and ambitious future economic partnership.

Pneumococcal Diseases: Vaccination

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to ensure adequate supplies of the PPV23 vaccine.

Steve Brine: The Department is aware of the intermittent issues affecting the supply of Pneumococcal polysaccharide 23-valent vaccine (PPV 23 vaccine). We are working closely with Public Health England (PHE) and the supplier, MSD, on this issue and can confirm that further United Kingdom deliveries are expected to be made available over the coming months. Despite this, supplies are expected to be constrained for the foreseeable future. In order to mitigate the impact to patients, PHE has issued clinical guidance to general practitioners, which provides recommendations on how to manage patients who are eligible for vaccination during periods of constraint.

Health Visitors

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of health visitors.

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many health visitor positions there are in England; and how many of those positions are vacant.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Health visiting services have been developed to improve health outcomes for children and families and reduce inequalities. Since October 2015 local authorities have been responsible for the commissioning of these services for zero to five year olds and, as such, they determine the required numbers of health visitors to meet local needs. Over 800 new training places were made available in 2016/17 to continue to develop the health visitor workforce. We no longer hold data centrally on the number of health visitor posts there are in England, or the number of vacancies.

Department of Health and Social Care: Beverage Containers

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate has been made of the number of single use disposable cups that are (a) used each year and (b) sent for recycling by his Department.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department used 404,260 single use disposable cups on its estate in 2017, served from the cafes and restaurants on the estate. The Department holds no records on how many cups were recycled. All the Department’s waste is either recycled, reused or incinerated with energy recovery.

NHS: Managers

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average length of service has been for (a) Chief Executives and (b) Chairs of NHS or Foundation Trusts over the last 30 years.

Stephen Barclay: This information is not collected centrally.

Huntington's Disease: Medical Treatments

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to ensure people with Huntington's disease have appropriate access to emerging treatment methods.

Steve Brine: Patients with Huntington's disease have access to a range of services including the services of their general practitioner, associated health professionals neurology services, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, local mental health services for sufferers and their families, palliative care where appropriate and online resources, including factsheets. A new drug for treatment of Huntington’s disease was recently trialed in humans for the first time, in groundbreaking research supported by the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Early results suggest that the new drug, known as IONIS-HTTRx, can successfully silence the faulty gene, lowering levels of the harmful huntingtin protein in the nervous system and slowing progression of the illness. The study was supported by the NIHR University College London Hospitals (UCLH) Biomedical Research Centre, the NIHR UCLH Clinical Research Facility and the NIHR Clinical Research Network. The research team now intends to move quickly to a larger trial to further confirm their findings. The Accelerated Access Review (AAR) was launched to make recommendations to the Government on speeding up access for National Health Service patients to innovative and cost-effective new medicines, diagnostics, medical technologies and digital products. On 3 November 2017, the Government published its response to the AAR. The response sets out how the Government will work with industry and healthcare organisations to implement the recommendations made by the review. The response is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/accelerated-access-review-response

Huntington's Disease: Drugs

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prescriptions of (a) individual benzodiazepine drugs and (b) individual antidepressants were dispensed in the community in 2016.

Steve Brine: The information requested can be found in the attached table.



PQ123187 attached table
(Word Document, 24.82 KB)

Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: Accident and Emergency Departments

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of patients at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust were treated in A&E within one hour of their arrival at that hospital in the most recent quarter for which data is available.

Stephen Barclay: The count and proportion of unplanned accident and emergency (A&E) attendances at Wirral University Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with a treatment duration of up to and including one hour is shown in the table below. Also shown is the count and proportion of unplanned A&E attendances at the trust with a duration to the conclusion of treatment of up to and including one hour. The data for both of these counts is for the period 1 July 2017 and 30 September 2017 and is provisional.  AttendancesPercentagesDuration to treatment (up to and including one hour)9,39039.6%Duration to conclusion of treatment or attendance (up to and including one hour)2,87712.1%Total A&E attendances23,695 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital

Care Homes: Inspections

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to improve the way local authorities and the Care Quality Commission (a) coordinate inspections of and (b) share information on care homes classed as (i) requiring improvement and (ii) inadequate.

Caroline Dinenage: In October 2017 the Care Quality Commission reported 80% of adult social care providers had been rated as good or outstanding. However, when standards fall below those rightly expected by care home residents and their families, it is right that information is shared across the system. The Department is working with the adult social care sector to implement Quality Matters – a shared commitment to take action to achieve high quality, person-centred adult social care. This includes actions to improve information collection and sharing and to support organisations to improve care services. The Care Quality Commission has provided the following response: There are a range of meetings by which the Care Quality Commission and local authorities share information. There are also protocols, and requirements that exist to coordinate between the Care Quality Commission and local authorities. For Inadequate or Requires Improvement services, if the Care Quality Commission take certain enforcement action, such as issuing a notice of proposal or a notice of decision, there is a requirement to share notices with the Association of Directors of Social Care Service and other relevant partners such as clinical commissioning groups. The Care Quality Commission inspectors regularly communicate with staff in local authorities as part of their everyday routine engagement, which informs inspection planning and whether risk needs to be escalated, or if joint visits are required.

Care Homes: Standards

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to improve the regulation and oversight of the performance of care homes; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: The Care Act 2014 placed duties on local authorities to shape their local markets to ensure all adult social care service users have a choice of high quality services. The Department is working with the Care Quality Commission and partners across the adult social care sector to implement Quality Matters – a shared commitment to take action to achieve high quality, person-centred adult social care. The Care Quality Commission has provided the following response: The Care Quality Commission introduced an updated inspection methodology from 1 November for adult social care services, including care homes. The new methodology took into account learning from the inspection and rating of these services from October 2014 onwards as well as undertaking a public consultation in 2017. Changes introduced include more proportionate and targeted inspections; a stronger regulatory focus on services rated as requires improvement, using enforcement powers to require providers to take action when they need to improve; improvements in identifying, monitoring and responding to risks; developing and sharing information from providers, collected online, as a single shared view of quality; and on reporting, making reports clearer and more informative, including reference to serious incidents.

Care Homes: Inspections

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) bodies and (b) processes there are to review the joint performance of the Care Quality Commission and Clinical Commissioning Groups on care home inspections.

Caroline Dinenage: There are no existing bodies or processes which review the joint performance of the Care Quality Commission and clinical commissioning groups on care home inspections. The Department is working with the Care Quality Commission, NHS England and partners across the adult social care sector to implement Quality Matters – a shared commitment to take action to achieve high quality, person-centred adult social care.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Ministerial Powers

Jon Trickett: To ask the Attorney General, how many ministerial directions were issued to his Department in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

Jeremy Wright: No ministerial directions were issued to my department in the years 2015, 2016 or 2017.

Department for International Development

Palestinians: USA

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the Occuptied Palestinian Territories of the decision of the House of Representatives to end foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority.

Alistair Burt: We are working closely with the United States (US) to understand the impact of the Taylor Force Act on their programme and the implications for other donors, were it to be approved by the US Senate.

Developing Countries: Motor Vehicles

Stephen Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has had discussions with the Global Vehicle Trust on the use of the Ox flat-packed truck for the developing world for UK aid projects.

Alistair Burt: To date, DFID has had 1 meeting with Global Vehicle Trust to discuss the Ox flat-packed truck (in November 2016).

Palestinians: UNRWA

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has held with her counterpart in the US administration on funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees.

Alistair Burt: The UK has engaged in the recent United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Advisory Commission meetings which include the United States, all main donors and host Governments. The UK has highlighted our concern about the impact on the activities of UNRWA that any unexpected reductions or delays in predicted donor disbursements might have. The United States has consistently been UNRWA’s largest single donor. My officials are working closely with UNRWA and donors on how best to ensure continuity of essential services to Palestinian refugees at this time. The UK remains firmly committed to supporting UNRWA and Palestinian refugees across the Middle East, having so far provided around £50 million in 2017/18.

Yemen: Politics and Government

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

Alistair Burt: Yemen is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. The recent escalation in fighting and restrictions on commercial and humanitarian access threaten to push the country into catastrophic famine. The UN estimates that almost 18 million people in Yemen do not have reliable access to food and over 8 million people face extreme food shortages. The International Development Secretary visited Djibouti and Saudi Arabia in December, where she announced a further £50 million in life-saving UK aid to provide food and fuel for millions of people. This announcement increased our support to Yemen to £205 million overall for this financial year (2017/18) making us the third-largest humanitarian donor to Yemen overall and the second-largest to the UN Humanitarian Appeal.

International Assistance

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions her Department has had with her Development Assistance Committee counterparts on changing international aid rules since her appointment as Secretary of State.

Alistair Burt: On 9 January 2018 the Secretary of State for International Development met with the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Chair, for an introductory meeting. Since the October 2017 DAC High Level Meeting her officials have continued discussions on ODA reform, Department for International Development officials, including the UK’s representative for development to the OECD, speak regularly with their counterparts from other DAC Member States and the DAC Secretariat.

Overseas Aid

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans she has to introduce new criteria for allocating her Department's overseas aid budget.

Alistair Burt: The UK Aid Strategy sets out that, “in allocating aid, the government will carefully consider the fit with its strategic objectives, the level of need, the ability of partner countries to finance their own development, and what support they get from others”.Where DFID works and DFID’s allocations to different countries are kept under review to ensure UK Aid is used most effectively to achieve poverty reduction in the national interest and responds to changing global needs.

Department for International Development: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many contracts her Department holds with government strategic suppliers.

Alistair Burt: DFID currently holds 1 centrally managed contract with a Government Strategic Supplier.Additionally, DFID pays into a small number of cross-Government corporate contracts with strategic suppliers, from central framework agreements held by the Crown Commercial Service.

Overseas Aid

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which additional countries she is currently considering providing aid to.

Alistair Burt: Where DFID works and DFID’s allocations to different countries are kept under review to ensure UK Aid is used most effectively to achieve poverty reduction in the national interest and responds to changing global needs.

Bangladesh: Migrant Camps

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate the Government has made on the number of UK humanitarian agencies seeking access to refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Alistair Burt: The UK regularly engages with UK NGOs in Bangladesh. All NGOs seeking to access to refugee camps and provide support in Bangladesh require the government of Bangladesh's permission to do so. The list of those requesting access is held by the government of Bangladesh.

Overseas Aid: Terrorism

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps she has taken to prevent UK development aid funding being used to support international terrorism.

Alistair Burt: The Department for International Development has a zero tolerance approach to UK aid funds being diverted to fund terrorist activities and the UK Government publishes a list of prescribed extremist groups or organisations banned under UK law. Where there are allegations of misuse of aid funds, these are investigated fully by the Department’s specialist Counter Fraud Unit, and funds are always recovered to the fullest extent possible.The Department has robust measures in place to protect, prevent, and detect the diversion of aid. Controls are embedded through-out the programme cycle and are continually revised and adapted to meet evolving threats and changes in operational circumstances. The Department has recently strengthened its already rigorous due diligence process and comprehensive risk management framework which requires risks to be identified prior to the disbursement of UK aid.

Department for Education

University Technical Colleges

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to publish the details of the application process for University Technical Colleges.

Anne Milton: We will announce our plans in relation to future University Technical College's application arrangements in due course.

Schools: Sports

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of doubling the sport premium.

Nadhim Zahawi: An independent evaluation report into the premium was published in December 2015. It found that:87% of schools reported that the quality of PE teaching had increased since the introduction of the premium.The PE and sport premium had had a positive impact on physical fitness, healthy lifestyles, skills and behaviour of pupils.The majority of schools reported that they had introduced new sports in both curricular PE and extra-curricular sport since the premium was introduced. We know more can be done to improve PE and sport in primary schools, which is why we have doubled the premium to £320 million a year from September 2017 using revenue from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy.Schools must use the funding to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of PE and sport they offer. The premium should develop or add to the PE and sport activities that a school already offers and make improvements now that will benefit pupils joining the school in future years.

Education: Swindon

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the total education budget for Swindon was in each of the last seven years.

Nick Gibb: The planned expenditure of Swindon local authority on schools and other education services in each of the last seven years was as follows:  Total Schools Budget  (before academy recoupment)Other Education and Community Budget (Net)(Net) £000s£000s2017-18170,1207,0692016-17164,0727,1592015-16161,5146,9532014-15146,9336,0052013-14144,7726,1322012-13Not available on a consistent basis7,8342011-12Not available on a consistent basis8,951Source: Section 251 Budget returns. Figures shown are net of expected income. Income sources could include private sources, other local authorities’ fees, charges paid by parents (such as meals, music, board / lodging) and lettings.Planned expenditure on schools, education and children’s services by local authorities in England is published at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-local-authority-school-finance-data#planned-local-authority-and-school-spending-.

ICT: Graduates

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students have graduated with a degree in ICT & Computer Science in each year since 2010.

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the number of students studying for a degree in ICT & Computer Science.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes statistics on students obtaining qualifications from UK Higher Education Institutions. The latest statistics refer to the academic year 2016/17 and can be found at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/11-01-2018/sfr247-higher-education-student-statistics/qualifications. The numbers of first degree qualifiers in computer sciences subjects from the academic year 2010/11 onwards are provided in the table below: First degree qualifiers1 in Computer Sciences subjects2UK Higher Education Institutions, academic years 2010/11 to 2016/17Academic yearNumber of qualifiers2010/1114,5052011/1215,2252012/1315,5652013/1416,0802014/1515,5952015/1615,2802016/1716,805 Source: HESA Student Record Notes Counts are on the basis of full-person-equivalents. Where a student is studying more than one subject, they are apportioned between the subjects that make up their course.Computer sciences is the most appropriate JACS3 classification for ‘ICT & Computer Science’. More information is available here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/jacs/jacs3-detailed.Figures are rounded to nearest 5 and so the sum of columns may not add to totals.  In relation to increasing the number of students studying for a degree in ICT and computer science, the government is undertaking a range of initiatives to promote digital and computing skills throughout the education system. For example, the government is investing £84 million of new funding over the next five years to deliver a comprehensive programme to improve the teaching of the computing curriculum and increase participation in computer science GCSE. The government is also seeking to strengthen the role that higher education providers can play in providing digital and computing skills. This will be through supporting the establishment of a new Institute of Coding to serve as a national focus for improving digital skills provision at levels 6 and 7 with a £20 million fund to improve higher-level digital skills, with joint collaborations between universities and businesses, and to focus on computer science and digital skills in related disciplines. This will ensure the courses better meet employers’ needs. Additionally, there is funding to support universities to develop conversion courses in engineering and computer science that allow graduates from other subjects to undertake further study and pursue careers in engineering and computer science.

ICT: GCSE

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students have left school with a GCSE or equivalent in ICT & Computer Science in each year since 2010.

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the number of students studying GCSE or equivalent in ICT & Computer Science.

Nick Gibb: The total number of pupils, at the end of Key Stage 4, achieving grades A*-G in GCSE or equivalent in ICT/ Information Technology or Computer Science since 2009/10 is published in the Department’s statistical first release[1], and is set out below:Subject 20102011201220132014201520162017[2]Information Technology[3] 42.835.939.458.382.7100.973.560.9Computer Science[4] ----15.232.660.265.6 Source: Key stage 4 attainment data The Department reformed the Computer Science GCSE to provide a stronger foundation for further academic and vocational study. The new GCSE was introduced in September 2016 and requires students to understand mathematical principles and concepts such as data representation, Boolean logic and different data types. Students also have to understand the components of computer systems, and write and refine programs. The ICT GCSE was not reformed and ceased to be available for teaching from September 2017. The Government announced during the Budget that it was investing £84 million of new funding from 2018-23 to deliver a comprehensive programme to improve the teaching of computing in schools and drive up participation in computer science at GCSE. This new programme will include retraining up to 8,000 secondary teachers to teach computer science GCSE, a National Centre for Computing Education including a national network of support for schools to provide training and resources to schools, and pilot of targeted activities to improve the gender balance in computer science GCSE and A level. [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-gcses-key-stage-4 - Select the revised link for each year (latest for 2017 is provisional), then open the ‘subject tables’. The figures are provided in the first tab (in some years, data on equivalents is provided in table 12).[2] 2017 figures are based on provisional data. Figures for all other years are final.[3] Includes Computer Studies, Information Systems and any combined syllabus of which Information Technology is the major part.[4] Computer science includes all computer science qualifications and is not limited to just those located on the science pillar of the EBacc.

Education: Finance

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to communicate to the public the value of increases in the education budget.

Nick Gibb: The department has published the full detail of the school and high needs national funding formulae, which outlines the impact they will have for every local authority. We have also published notional school level allocations showing what each school would attract through the formula. This means that for the first time, everyone can see what the national funding formulae will mean for their school. The published documents can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-for-schools-and-high-needs. When the department announced the final details of the formulae in September, the former Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening) made a statement in the House; we have also written to all hon. Members setting out the details of the formulae and the impact on schools in their constituencies.

Children: Day Care

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children aged three and four who are entitled to free childcare for 30 hours a week are disabled.

Nadhim Zahawi: We do not hold data relating to the number of children eligible for 30 hours who are disabled. We will collect data about the number of children taking up 30 hours free childcare in the January 2018 Early Years and Schools Census. This will be published in the ‘Education provision: children under 5 years of age’ statistical first release in summer 2018. This will include data about the number of children with special educational needs or a disability taking up government-funded hours.

Schools: Cornwall

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the overall increase in funding for Cornwall’s schools as a result of the implementation of the fair funding formula.

Nick Gibb: The introduction of the national funding formula in 2018-19 will allocate funding on the basis of the specific characteristics of every school and pupil.Allocations for 2018-19 for each local authority were confirmed on 19 December 2017 and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2018-to-2019. The allocations take into account the latest pupil numbers from the October 2017 census. For Cornwall, the national funding formula means an increase in schools funding of 1.7% per pupil in 2018-19 and 2.7% in 2019-20.Local authorities will continue to set their own local formulae which will determine individual schools’ budgets in their areas, in 2018-19 and 2019-20, in consultation with local schools.

Universities: Antisemitism

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to tackle anti-semitism on university campuses.

Mr Sam Gyimah: This government takes anti-Semitism extremely seriously. There is no place in our society - including within higher education – for hatred or any form of harassment, discrimination or racism, including anti-Semitism. Higher education providers are autonomous organisations, independent from government. They have a clear responsibility to provide a safe and inclusive environment. In September 2015, the government asked Universities UK (UUK) to set up a Harassment Taskforce to consider what more can be done to address harassment and hate crime on campus, including antisemitism. The taskforce’s report, ‘Changing the Culture’, published in October 2016, recommended a zero-tolerance approach to harassment and hate crime. On 27 July 2017, UUK published a directory of case studies detailing the innovative projects universities have developed to address the taskforce’s recommendations. These include Goldsmith’s hate crime reporting centre (case study 11) which is a joint initiative with the local authority in Lewisham and the Metropolitan Police, which provides students and staff with a safe space to report incidents. These are published on UUK’s website: http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/changing-the-culture-case-studies.aspx. In addition, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has provided £1.8 million for projects to improve responses to hate crime and online harassment on campus. HEFCE is currently working with UUK to test the sector’s response to the Taskforce’s recommendations and the results of this will be published early this year. On the 16 January, the government announced a partnership between the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and the Department for Education. These departments are providing £144,261 of joint funding for a new programme to support universities in tackling antisemitism on campus. The programme will be delivered by the Holocaust Educational Trust and will involve 200 students and university leaders from across the country visiting the former Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Upon their return, they will take part in a seminar, which will deal explicitly with campus issues and how to identify and tackle antisemitism.

Holocaust Educational Trust

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support the outreach work of the Holocaust Educational Trust.

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to support the Holocaust Educational Trust's Lessons From Auschwitz project.

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day 2018.

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to continue to support the Holocaust Educational Trust.

Nick Gibb: Since 2010, the Department for Education has provided over £14 million to support students and teachers from state-funded schools and colleges in England to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau, through the Lessons from Auschwitz programme. The aim of these visits is to increase knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust.We are continuing to support the Holocaust Education Trust, ensuring more students have the opportunity to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau and that they share the knowledge they have gained from their visit and lead projects to increase awareness of the Holocaust in their schools and local communities.The Department also funds the University College London centre for Holocaust Education to provide continuing professional development for teachers. On 16 January 2018, the Government announced a partnership between the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Education. These departments are providing £144,261 of joint funding for a new programme to support universities in tackling antisemitism on campus. The programme will be delivered by the Holocaust Educational Trust and will involve 200 students and university leaders from across the country visiting the former Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Upon their return, they will take part in a seminar, which will deal explicitly with campus issues and how to identify and tackle antisemitism.Every year the Department for Education holds a Holocaust Memorial Day event. This year it will fall on 31 January 2018 and be hosted by The Holocaust Educational Trust. A Holocaust survivor will attend as guest speaker, with their testimony being the central focus of the event; and young ambassadors will share their reflections on their Department for Education funded ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ experience.

Pre-school Education: Special Educational Needs

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to review funding streams for children who are not of reception age to access additional support services whilst at nursery.

Nadhim Zahawi: Funding for children’s services is part of the wider local government finance settlement. The Spending Review in 2015 made available more than £200 billion to councils for local services, including children’s services, up to 2019-20. By 2019-20 we will be spending around £6 billion on childcare support. This includes, for example, the Disability Access Fund. Budgets after 2019-20 will be set at the next Spending Review.

Languages: Education

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to encourage language teaching in the UK.

Nick Gibb: The Government offers financial incentives, including scholarships and tax-free bursaries, for trainee teachers. These are typically worth up to £26,000 for trainees in priority subjects, including modern foreign languages (MFL). The Department has also developed a number of measures to encourage more MFL specialists into initial teacher training (ITT). These include targeted marketing campaigns, providing support to potential ITT applicants across priority subjects to increase the proportion of successful applications; and providing seed funding to higher education institutions to develop an offer for languages degree students to opt-in to complete qualified teacher status alongside their undergraduate degree.The Department has developed programmes including the ‘Teacher Subject Specialism Training’ (TSST), to attract existing teachers into MFL. TSST aims to enhance the MFL expertise of current teachers and provide more targeted support to help returning teachers and career changers into the profession.The Department is creating expert hubs for languages that will share best practice in pedagogy among schools. These hubs will improve access to high quality, modern MFL teaching. Further details will be announced in due course.

Schools: Standards

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were in good or outstanding schools in each of the last seven years in (a) Kirklees, (b) West Yorkshire, (c) England and (d) UK.

Nick Gibb: The attached table shows Ofsted inspection data on the number of children in good or outstanding schools in Kirklees, West Yorkshire and England, as at August 31, 2017.Ofsted are only responsible for inspections in England. The devolved administrations have their own education inspection systems. 



123111 Table
(Word Document, 13.59 KB)

Academies: Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to require academy schools to have a curriculum which includes personal, social and health education.

Nick Gibb: Academies are currently encouraged to teach personal, social, health and economic Education (PSHE) as part of a broad and balanced curriculum.The Children and Social Work Act 2017 places a duty on the Secretary of State for Education to make relationships education mandatory in all primary schools and relationships and sex education mandatory in all secondary schools, through regulations. The Act also provides powers to make PSHE, or elements therein, mandatory in all schools (including academies) subject to further consideration.The Department is conducting thorough and wide-ranging engagement with stakeholders, in order to reach an evidence based decision on PSHE and determine the content of regulations and statutory guidance. The Department is currently seeking views on these subjects from parents, teachers, young people and other interested parties through our call for evidence, which closes on Monday 12 February. This can be found at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/life-skills/pshe-rse-call-for-evidence/.The Department will consult on draft regulations and guidance. This regulation will then be brought to the House. The Department is working towards schools teaching the new subjects from September 2019.

Teachers: Training

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to ensure that every teacher in all state-funded schools has or is working towards Qualified Teacher Status.

Nick Gibb: The government has no plans to introduce a requirement that all teachers in state-funded schools have or are working towards Qualified Teacher Status.Ensuring the highest quality of teaching is paramount to the success of each school. Headteachers have a strong interest in employing the best qualified individual for a particular post, taking into account relevant skills and experience as well as formal training and qualifications.All schools continue to be held accountable for the quality of teaching through Ofsted inspections and the publication of school performance data.

Education: Disadvantaged

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what research his Department has conducted on the effect of the removal of Education Maintenance Allowance on families where a child received that allowance.

Anne Milton: The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) was phased out from September 2011 with the final payments being made in August 2012. It was replaced with the 16-19 Bursary Fund which was available from September 2011. Students who began courses in 2010/11 and continued in 2011/12 could receive transitional support. Those from disadvantaged backgrounds who had received a full EMA award of £30 a week continued to receive EMA support at a lower level of £20 a week during 2011/12. Those in higher income brackets who had previously claimed a partial EMA award of £10 or £20 a week no longer received EMA, but all young people could apply for support from the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund. There was considerable research undertaken following the introduction of the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund to evaluate this new approach. The reports are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-the-16-to-19-bursary-fund-year-1-report.

Department for Education: Beverage Containers

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate has been made of the number of single use disposable cups that are (a) used each year and (b) sent for recycling by his Department.

Nadhim Zahawi: No estimate has been made of the department’s use of single use disposable cups that are used each year and sent for recycling. Staff and visitors are encouraged to dispose of waste appropriately and use recycling bins where it is appropriate to do so. The department has achieved an overall waste reduction of 71% since 2009/10 and recycling levels in 2016-17 were at 74%.

Mathematics: Education

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of children's progress in specialist maths schools.

Nadhim Zahawi: Currently, there are two maths schools open, Exeter Mathematics School (EMS) and King’s College London Mathematics School (KCMS), both of which opened in 2014. Early performance data shows that the schools have made a strong start. Ofsted judged both to be outstanding in 2017 and their overall A level progress scores were well above average in 2016. The relevant data for EMS can be found in: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/140971 and for KCMS in https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/140564. Data for 2017 will be publically available on 25 January but both schools report similarly impressive outcomes for the 2016/17 academic year.

Children: Day Care

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many formal complaints have been made to HMRC on problems with reconfirming eligibility codes for 30 hours of free funded childcare for three and four-year-old children since April 2017; and whether his Department has made an assessment of HMRC’s capacity to efficiently process applications for 30 hours of free childcare.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education does not hold information on complaints made in relation to reconfirmation of eligibility for 30 hours free childcare. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will release further information on complaints they have received in due course. The vast majority of parents are using the digital childcare service without issue. As shown in our management information release, 30 hours free childcare eligibility codes issued and validated: January 2018, more than 325,000 eligibility codes have been issued for the spring term. The department continues to work closely with HMRC to support parents through the application process for 30 hours free childcare.

Grammar Schools

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his policy is on grammar schools; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Government wants to ensure all pupils can benefit from a high quality education. The Department is committed to supporting all good and outstanding schools, including selective schools that wish to expand, particularly where there is demand for more good school places and it can be demonstrated that the change represents the best local solution and value for money. However, the legislative ban on opening new grammar schools remains in place. The Department is continuing to work with the grammar schools sector to ensure that more academically able children from low-income backgrounds can secure a place at selective schools, and to encourage selective schools to work with other local schools to help improve standards locally.

Further Education: Finance

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Industrial Strategy: building a Britain fit for the future, published on 27 November 2017, if he will make it his policy to extend the Government's major review of funding across tertiary education to include the education system for people aged 16 years and over.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The government will conduct a major review of funding across tertiary education. In the Industrial Strategy, it was stated that the review will consider a range of specific issues within post-18 education. The government will set out further details on the review shortly.

Apprentices: Pay

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the apprentices transferred from Carillion Training Services to the Construction Industry Training Board are paid weekly or monthly.

Anne Milton: The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) can confirm that all affected apprentices will continue to be paid by the receiver until the end of January. Following the announcement on the 15 January 2018, regarding the collapse of Carillion, the ESFA have enacted robust contingency plans and identified The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) as the best placed alternative provider. The CITB are currently utilising their existing employer contacts in the sector and the grant incentives they have available in order to secure existing employers or find alternative employers for the apprentices to complete their frameworks or standards. Once alternative employment has been secured, it will be the responsibility of these individual employers to determine the frequency of payments to their apprentices.

Ministry of Justice

Parc Young Offender Institution

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the use of nutritional supplements has been trialled for use in HMP Parc Young Offenders Institute to reduce violence or anti-social behaviour in the last 10 years.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the use of nutritional supplements has been trialled in Young Offenders Institutions in England and Wales to reduce violence levels in the last 10 years.

Dr Phillip Lee: Safety in prisons and young offender institutions is fundamental to the proper functioning of our justice system and addressing safety concerns is at the heart of our reform plans. We are committed to reforming youth custody so that it is safer for both young people and staff and better equipped to help young people turn their lives around. The use of nutritional supplement has not been trialled in Young Offender Institutions in England and Wales in the last 10 years.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Domestic Safety

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of whether the statutory guidance on the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, published in 2006, is still fit for purpose; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Raab: The Housing Health and Safety Rating System was introduced by the Housing Act 2004. It is a risk based assessment tool which is used by local authorities to assess the risk of a hazard in residential housing to the health and safety of occupants or visitors. The system is kept under regular review, including whether the guidance needs to be updated.The Government has commissioned Dame Judith Hackitt to take forward an independent review of building and fire safety regulations and their effectiveness. A decision on whether the guidance on the Housing Health and Safety Rating System needs to be updated will be taken following the completion of that review, which is expected to be in Spring 2018.

Holocaust Memorial Day

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will support local authorities to hold memorial events for Holocaust Memorial Day 2018.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Department funds the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust which provides resources to local authorities to support local Holocaust Memorial Day events. In 2017 there were 7,700 local Holocaust Memorial Day events across the country many of them were hosted by local authorities. We are expecting the same this year but will not have the total numbers until after Holocaust Memorial Day.

Holocaust Memorial Day

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has plans to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day 2018.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Department hosted in partnership with the Holocaust Educational Trust and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, a Holocaust Memorial Day event on Wednesday 17 January for staff. We were honoured to hear the testimony of Holocaust survivor Janine Webber and two Holocaust Educational Trust Ambassadors Jack Pepper from the Glyn School and Chloe Smith from Furze Platt Senior School.

Antisemitism

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment his Department has made of the level of antisemitism and Holocaust denial; and what steps his Department is taking to tackle antisemitism and Holocaust denial.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We work closely with the Community Security Trust, the Police and the Home Office to tackle antisemitic incidents, which have no place in our communities.The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government hosts the Antisemitism Working Group which brings together community representatives and officials from across Government to ensure a coordinated response to antisemitism, whether at home, abroad or online.The UK was also the first country in the world to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of Antisemitism which is a useful tool in understanding how Antisemitism manifests itself in the 21st century.

Holocaust Memorial Day

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to commemorate the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government funds the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust to deliver the annual Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz –Birkenau on behalf of the nation. This year the ceremony will take place on 25 January 2018.

Homelessness: Cornwall

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of homeless people in Cornwall; and what assessment he has made of the trend in the level of homelessness in that area in the past five years.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government publishes regular statistics on rough sleeping, statutory homelessness and homelessness prevention and relief. These are published at a local authority level. The latest statistics can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics.We are supporting 48 projects through our £20 million Rough Sleeping Grant, with £470,000 awarded to Cornwall for services to work in partnership and prevent people from sleeping rough through identifying those at risk as well as assisting people into emergency accommodation.The Government remains committed to combating homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why we are aiming to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminate it altogether by 2027. To achieve this, we have set up a Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Reduction Taskforce that will focus on prevention and affordable housing.We also supported the Homelessness Reduction Act which commences in April 2018. The Act significantly reforms England’s homelessness legislation, ensuring that more people get the help they need earlier to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place.

Carillion

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs that will be lost in each local authority as a result of the liquidation of Carillion.

Jake Berry: We are not expecting any local authority jobs to be lost as a result of the liquidation of Carillion.

Local Government Finance: Enfield

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many representations he received from business groups in the London Borough of Enfield on the local government finance settlement prior to the announcement of that settlement.

Rishi Sunak: Prior to the provisional settlement, my department held a technical consultation in September 2017 on the planned approach to the 2018-19 local government finance settlement. We received a total of 330 representations of which none were from business groups in the London Borough of Enfield.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that combustable material including cladding and insulation is removed from tower blocks.

Dominic Raab: Nothing is more important than keeping people safe. That is why we established the Building Safety Programme, which has been working with local authorities and building owners to identify properties that might be at risk. A variety of interim safety measures have also been put in place so that everyone is kept safe. A list of these measures can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/648775/Update_on_Interim_Mitigation_Measures_290917.pdf.The programme is working with local authorities across England to make sure that all building owners take necessary remedial action to improve the fire safety of tower blocks as swiftly as possible.

Ministry of Defence

Trident Missiles

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, (a) what role the National Security Council will have in the decision on whether to replace the Trident nuclear warhead, (b) whether that decision will be discussed by the full Cabinet and (c) whether Parliament will have a final vote on that decision.

Gavin Williamson: As stated in the update to Parliament on 20 December 2017 the Dreadnought Programme (HCWS377), work is ongoing on warhead replacement options; I will continue to provide updates as appropriate.

Armed Forces: Training

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure continued availability of training in (a) Canada, (b) Kenya and (c) other locations overseas for the Armed Forces.

Mark Lancaster: We work closely with the various levels of the Governments and Armed Forces of Canada, Kenya and other nations to ensure planned training can be conducted smoothly. All three Services regularly train with a multitude of international allies and partners and we can be proud that our Armed Forces are highly sought by many other nations to participate in exercises and other training.

Navy: Engineers

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to address the shortage of engineers in the Royal Navy.

Mark Lancaster: The Royal Navy employs a range of measures to improve the recruitment and retention of engineers. These include apprenticeship schemes and staged financial awards, as well as an active engagement in a University Technical Colleges affiliation programme aimed at assisting in the development of technically able young people.The Royal Navy is constantly evolving their recruitment marketing methods, using specific targeted advertising campaigns, web based media, radio, social media, print and appearances at recruitment events.In addition, the Ministry of Defence will work as a partner with the Department for Transport on its Year of Engineering 2018 initiative, and all Services will promote that initiative, helping to deliver a brighter future for engineering in the United Kingdom.

Carillion

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value is of his Department's contracts with Carillion plc.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The total contract value of Carillion's work with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is circa £700 million - £1 billion, the majority of which are through Joint Venture Facilities Management contracts, construction Joint Ventures and Sub-contracts arrangements.Given that commercial agreements between the partners are not visible to the MOD it is impossible to give a precise figure on historical spend.

Tornado Aircraft: Accidents

Douglas Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place copies of the servicing record sheets and logs for the four Mk10A seat assemblies involved in the Moray Firth Tornado collision covering the period from the date of modification 02198 embodiment to 3 July 2012 in the Library.

Mark Lancaster: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Veterans: Crimes of Violence

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that adequate measures for redress are in place for ex-servicemen and women who claim to have been the victims of physical and verbal abuse from other members of the armed forces during their service.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence is clear that it does not tolerate any form of abuse. We take all allegations very seriously and have mechanisms in place to ensure they are handled appropriately.The avenues of redress open to former personnel who allege physical or verbal abuse from other members of the Armed Forces will depend on the circumstances of the case; including when and where the abuse took place and whether it amounts to a criminal assault.

World War II: Anniversaries

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will take steps to commemorate (a) Holocaust Memorial Day 2018, (b) the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau by allied forces and (c) the role played by British forces in defeating the Nazi regime; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence will be marking this year's Holocaust Memorial Day in the Department's London Headquarters Memorial Courtyard on Wednesday 24 January. The event is part of a cross-Government commemoration involving 18 Departments and has been organised in conjunction with the Holocaust Educational Trust. This will be an opportunity to hear the personal testimony of a Holocaust survivor and consider Defence's contribution to the liberation of the concentration camps. It will also be a chance to reflect on the enduring relevance of the Holocaust to today's world.

World War II: Anniversaries

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to commemorate the role of British soldiers in liberating Bergen-Belson in World War Two.

Mark Lancaster: The brave British and Canadian liberation of Bergen-Belsen on 15 April 1945 marked the end of suffering for thousands of men, women and children. Whilst the Ministry of Defence has no plans to hold a dedicated commemorative event, the Department will support events where possible.

Elizabeth Barracks: Operating Costs

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate has been made of the running costs to the public purse of the Elizabeth Barracks in Pirbright, Woking, in each of the last five years.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate has been made of the running costs to the public purse of the Lucknow Barracks in Tidworth, Wiltshire, in each of the last five years.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the running costs to the public purse were of each army barracks in the UK in each of the last five years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Running costs for individual barracks are not held in the format requested as contracts are let by region.

National Security Capability Review

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his oral contribution of 15 January 2018, Official Report, column 616, whether he plans to ask the Chief of the Defence Staff to appear before the Defence Committee to give evidence on the National Security Capabilities Review.

Gavin Williamson: I would consider any request by the Defence Committee for a Ministry of Defence witness to give evidence.

Military Bases

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the value of the (a) land and (b) housing stock at the sites identified for disposal under the Better Defence Estate strategy.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) expects to generate £1 billion through the disposal of sites identified under the Better Defence Estate Strategy. The MOD policy is to sell through open competition to achieve the best price.The MOD currently provides the large majority of its Service Family Accommodation through the Annington Homes Limited portfolio.When the MOD no longer requires properties, the lease is terminated and the properties are handed back to Annington Homes Ltd. Thereafter, it is for Annington Homes Ltd to decide the future use of the properties.

CarillionAmey

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effect of Carillion’s entering liquidation on the operation of CarillionAmey; and what contingencies his Department has in place to take account of those effects.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: CarillionAmey is an independent legal entity providing catering, cleaning and maintenance services to Service personnel and their families as an Incorporated Joint Venture (JV). Contractually the partners are required to deliver the requirements of the JV if one of the partners fails. The Department is working with the relevant JV partners to ensure that they continue to deliver the required services.Carillion entering liquidation has no direct impact on the services provided directly to Service personnel, their families and the continuing work of Ministry of Defence.

Armed Forces: Housing

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence of 15 January 2018, Official Report, column 599, whether rental allowances for armed forces personnel under the Future Accommodation Model will be linked to local market rent prices.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The accommodation allowance will have a geographical factor which we will use to shield Service personnel from variations in rental costs. The allowance will be enough to rent the home they need at broadly the same cost as Service accommodation, regardless of where they live in the country.

Islamic State: Military Intervention

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to re-examine the criteria for medallic recognition for Operation Shader.

Mark Lancaster: As with all UK military operations, Operation Shader is kept under constant review. In line with previous Operational Service Medals, the Iraq and Syria Operational Service Medal is awarded for those who are considered to have faced danger and hardship. If it were judged appropriate, the eligibility criteria for the current medal could be amended.

Navy

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Minister for the Armed Forces’ oral contribution of 15 January 2018, Official Report, column 596, how many personnel he plans to increase the Royal Navy by and over what period.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 20 July 2017 to Question number 5260.



5260 - WQnA extract on the Royal Navy
(Word Document, 13.14 KB)

Air Force: Re-employment

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for the Armed Forces of 15 January 2018, Official Report, column 605, how many former pilots who had left the RAF have applied to re-join since the announcement that his Department would purchase nine P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft in July 2016.

Mark Lancaster: At 17 January 2018, 38 former RAF pilots have applied to re-join the RAF since July 2016.

Hawk Aircraft

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his oral contribution of 15 January 2018, Official Report, column 610, what steps he is taking to secure future orders of the Hawk aircraft and, which countries he is talking to about such orders.

Guto Bebb: The Ministry of Defence continues to work closely with other Government Departments and BAE Systems to promote the Hawk aircraft. Building on Qatar's recent commitment to acquire the Hawk aircraft we continue to pursue the interest of a number of countries in the platform including Kuwait and India.

Armed Forces: Females

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many women have been in one-star postings or above in the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force in each of the last five years.

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many BAME personnel have been in one-star postings or above in the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force in each of the last five years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The numbers of women and BAME personnel in one-star postings and above for each of the last five years can be found, respectively, in tables 1 and 2a of the UK Armed Forces Biannual Diversity Statistics (NATO rank OF6 and above). The latest figures can be found at the following address:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2017

Ministry of Defence: Land

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what land his Department has declared to be surplus to its requirements in (a) West Sussex and (b) the Coast to Capital area.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: A list of Ministry of Defence (MOD) disposal sites that are surplus to requirements can be found in the MOD disposal database that is available in the Library of the House.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department still plans to procure 589 Ajax vehicles.

Guto Bebb: The Ministry of Defence plans to procure 589 AJAX vehicles, which will be rolled out across the Armoured Infantry and new Strike Brigades.

NATO

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress has been made on the NATO Allied Command Transformation Programme.

Mark Lancaster: The UK strongly supports efforts to modernise NATO, including adapting the NATO Command Structure, in response to the wide range of challenges the Alliance faces.Further decisions are expected at the next meeting of NATO Defence Ministers next month.

Russia: Submarines

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what reports he has received on increased Russian submarine operations in the North Atlantic.

Mark Lancaster: As part of its wider pattern of activities against the West, we have observed a steady increase in Russian submarine and broader maritime activity in the North Atlantic. We continue to monitor this activity closely.

Ministry of Defence: Beverage Containers

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate has been made of the number of single use disposable cups that are (a) used each year and (b) sent for recycling by his Department.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The information on the number of single use disposable cups that are used by the Department is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. It is not possible to separate the figure for disposable cups sent for recycling from other recycled materials.

Ministry of Defence: Public Expenditure

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to improve methodology for accounting for and attributing savings more accurately.

Gavin Williamson: The Ministry of Defence has implemented a robust governance process for the delivery of the £7.4 billion efficiency target from the 2015 Spending Review. We are committed to delivering the target in full and good progress has been made. We are forecasting 'line of sight' to 90% of the £7.4 billion target over the Spending Review Period (2020-21) and all savings are being reinvested in the Defence budget.

Armed Forces: Redundancy

Johnny Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 17 September 2012 to Question 118731, how many service personnel who were made redundant between 2010 and 2016 were within (a) one year, (b) two years, (c) three years and (d) four years of their immediate pension point.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claims for (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) employment and support allowance were processed and paid within five days of a claim being made in the most recent 12 months for which data is available.

Alok Sharma: The information requested for claims processing times is shown in the table below. The Department does not hold information on how many claims were paid within five days of a claim being made as this will vary for each claim, depending on factors such as a claimant’s circumstances and frequency of payment.  Claims Processed in 5 working daysJobseekers Allowance (JSA)263,610Employment & Support Allowance (ESA)388,030  Notes: The period the data covers is from 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2017.All volumes are rounded to the nearest 10.The data provided relates to the initial ESA assessment phase prior to the Work Capability Assessment. Source:Management Information System Programme (MISP). MISP is a Departmental performance management, data capture and reporting tool. This type of internal management information does not form part of the official statistics outputs that are released by the Department in accordance with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice.

Access to Work Programme: Publicity

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to better promote the Access to Work scheme.

Sarah Newton: Access to Work is promoted to a range of business leaders through the Disability Confident campaign. As part of the ongoing Access to Work campaign partnership managers will be engaging with local contacts to promote the support available. We also promote the scheme through engagement with partners and stakeholders such as Remploy, as well as through other government departments and public sector bodies. We may also use some elements of paid for marketing where appropriate, although our spending plans have not yet been finalised.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what arrangements the Government has in place to inform claimants of the assessment criteria against which they are measured when they apply for a PIP or ESA reconsideration or appeal.

Sarah Newton: Claimants to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) receive a decision letter once their claim has been determined by a Departmental Case Manager. The decision letter sets out all the assessment activities, the relevant functional descriptor applicable to the individual for each activity and the points each descriptor carries. Where a claimant asks for a mandatory reconsideration they will receive a further decision letter which again sets out the assessment activities, the relevant functional descriptor applicable to the individual for each activity and the points each descriptor carries. The assessment activities and descriptors used in PIP can be found in part 2 of the PIP Assessment Guide available on www.gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/665635/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-assessment-criteria.pdf Claimants to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) receive a decision letter once their claim has been determined by a Departmental Decision Maker. An entitlement decision letter sets out what the claimant needs to do next and which group the claimant has been placed in and a disallowance decision letter sets out the functional activities laid down in legislation and the justification for the number of points awarded. Following a Mandatory Reconsideration a new decision letter will be issued confirming either entitlement or disallowance; however no additional information is provided on the functional activities. The assessment activities and descriptors used in the Work Capability Assessment for ESA can be found in the ‘Employment and Support Allowance: the Work Capability Assessment: Detailed Guide’ and the ‘Work Capability Assessment Handbook’ both available on www.gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esa214-a-guide-to-employment-and-support-allowance-the-work-capability-assessment and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/work-capability-assessment-handbook-for-healthcare-professionals.

Universal Credit: Housing

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants have managed payments made directly to their landlord.

Alok Sharma: The available information on the number of Universal Credit claimants that have managed payments made directly to their landlord, is published and can be found at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

Universal Credit: Housing

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on the number of managed payments of the housing costs element of universal credit which have been made to the wrong landlord, council or housing association in the last twelve months.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2019 to Question 121059, on universal credit, what data and research the Government would require before it would judge an automated system to be approved.

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2018 to Question 121059, whether the Government is conducting data collection and research on the use of an automated system for universal credit claimants.

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is her policy to implement an automated system for universal credit claimants to reset their login details; and what the timetable is for setting up such a system.

Alok Sharma: I refer the Hon. Gentleman to the answers of 8 January 2018 to Question 121059 and 21 December 119929.Our design priorities are constantly being evaluated and updated. This means the Department has not yet set a date for implementation of the automated system.

Personal Independence Payment: Tribunals

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of PIP cases taken to tribunal following a failed mandatory reconsideration are successful in changing the original decision.

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of ESA cases taken to tribunal following a failed mandatory reconsideration are successful in changing the original decision.

Sarah Newton: The percentage of PIP and ESA appeals cleared at a tribunal hearing where the appeal decision was in favour of the claimant can be found in Table SSCS.3 of the quarterly bulletin “Tribunals and gender recognition certificate statistics quarterly – July to September 2017”. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2017 These figures include all Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) decisions subsequently appealed - not just ‘failed’ MRs where the original decision has been maintained, but also MRs where the award was changed but which were still disputed.

Employment and Support Allowance: Multiple Sclerosis

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people with multiple sclerosis have been placed in the employment support allowance Support Group on the basis of (a) physical or mental health risk, (b) pregnancy risk or (c) severe functional disability since 2013.

Sarah Newton: The number of people with a primary medical condition of Multiple Sclerosis, with an initial claim to Employment and Support Allowance who were assigned to the Support Group on the basis of a) physical or mental health, b) pregnancy risk or c) severe functional disability between January 2013 and March 2017 is shown in the following table: Reason for Support Group assignmentNumber of individualsPercentage of individualsPhysical or mental health risk1002%Pregnancy risk-0%Severe functional disability5,40095%Other reason1002%Total5,700100%  Source: Data is derived from administrative data held by the DWP and assessment data provided by the Healthcare Provider.

Universal Credit: Rented Housing

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of claimants of universal credit in private and housing association accommodation who have received a (a) threat of eviction or (b) court summons since the introduction that benefit.

Alok Sharma: As these are matters between tenants and landlords and not directly related to the provision of benefits, the Department can collect data on from its systems.

Universal Credit

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of new claimants of universal credit (a) requested a new claim advance and (b) received a new claim advance in each month from 5 June 2017 up to and including 31 December 2017.

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of claimants for universal credit (a) requested and (b) received a benefit transfer advance in each month from 5 June 2017 up to and including 31 December 2017.

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of claimants for universal credit (a) requested and (b) received a change of circumstance advance in each month from 5 June 2017 up to and including 31 December 2017.

Alok Sharma: The information requested for numbers of requested Universal Credit advances is not available. However, data on advances paid in the Universal Credit Full Service is included below.  New Claim advancesBenefit Transfer advancesChange of Circumstance advances Claims paid an advanceAs a proportion of new claimsClaims paid an advanceAs a proportion of all claimsClaims paid an advanceAs a proportion of all claims17-Jun6,80043%400 600 17-Jul7,60043%500 7001%17-Aug9,10042%1,1001%9001%17-Sep8,40035%2,0001%1,0001%17-Oct12,40047%2,4001%1,3001%17-Nov19,60058%3,4002%1,6001%

Universal Credit

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants for universal credit were paid an advance of the value of (a) less than £50, (b) £50.01-£100, (c) £100.01-£150, (d) £150.01-£200, (e) £200.01-£250, (f) £250.01-£300, (g) £300.01-£350, (h) £350.01-£400, (i) £400.01-£450, (j) £450.01-£500, (k) £500.01-£550, (l) £550.01-£600 and (m) greater than £600 in each month from 5 June 2017 up to and including 31 December 2017.

Alok Sharma: The table below shows the value of advances awarded to individual Full Service claims over the period requested. Each claim can include more than one claimant.  17-Jun17-Jul17-Aug17-Sep17-Oct17-NovLess than £5090110130170220290£50.01-£1007508401,0201,1101,3601,740£100.01-£1501,5201,6902,0502,2802,9504,030£150.01-£2002,0402,2102,8202,8403,9506,150£200.01-£2506106007508701,0901,580£250.01-£3001,1401,2501,6001,7002,3403,210£300.01-£3501,1901,3801,7101,6702,4003,650£350.01-£4006707209109201,2501,880£400.01-£4503003704304506201,060£450.01-£5005706508208401,0601,650£500.01-£550230300350370550880£550.01-£600300390440430620930Greater than £6001,0901,3501,6101,6502,3303,520 Notes: The data shows the total value of ‘New Claim’, ‘Benefit Transfer’, ‘Change of Circumstance’ and ‘Budgeting’ advances awarded to a Full Service claim.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Plastic Bags: Fees and Charges

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that retailers maintain publicly accessible and transparent records of how the proceeds of the 5p plastic bag levy have been used and distributed.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Since the charge was introduced in England retailers have donated proceeds of approximately £95 million towards a variety of good causes covering the arts, education, environment, health, heritage and sports as well as local causes chosen by customers or staff. The legislation requires large retailers to report what they do with the money from the charge and the department in line with the regulation publishes records supplied by retailers on GOV.UK website by 31 July each year.

Waste Disposal

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) amount and (b) proportion of municipal waste collected as recyclable waste was (i) recycled, (ii) sent for incineration and (iii) sent to landfill in 2017.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Statistics for waste sent for recycling and recycling rejects have been published for the 12 months to end March 2017:-https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/env18-local-authority-collected-waste-annual-results-tables. Table 3b of the dataset “Local authority waste generation from April 2000 to March 2017 England and regions and Local authority data April 2016 to March 2017”. In this period, 11.3 million tonnes of all waste collected by local authorities in England was sent for recycling. This amounts to 42.9% of total local authority collected waste. This includes waste recycled from residual waste streams, but excludes waste that was rejected and subsequently sent for incineration or landfill. The amount of local authority waste not sent for recycling that was originally collected for this purpose, is estimated to have been around 470 thousand tonnes in 2016/17 in England. This amounts to 1.8% of total local authority collected waste. The specific information requested is not held in the way described.

Chemicals: EU Law

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that the UK retains the regulatory standards set out in REACH after the UK leaves the EU.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Withdrawal Bill will convert current EU law into domestic law wherever practical, giving consumers and businesses as much certainty as possible. This includes laws relating to chemicals. The UK is strongly committed to the effective and safe management of chemicals. That will not change when we leave the EU.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Ministerial Powers

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many ministerial directions were issued to his Department in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

George Eustice: Defra have only issued 1 Ministerial Direction during the time requested, although a further Direction was issued on 19th January 2018.On 30th June 2015 a Direction was issued relating to the formation of the Flood Reinsurance Scheme on Value for Money Grounds.A copy of this letter can be found on the Gov.Uk website.On 19th January 2018 a further Ministerial Direction was issued relating Defra readiness for EU Exit. This was required to enable work to commence ahead of the formal legislation being passed through Parliament. Again the letter can be found on the Gov.uk website.

Recycling

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of trends in recycling rates in England.

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase recycling rates among local authorities.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Trends in recycling rates are routinely monitored through the preparation of the annual local authority waste statistics and would form part of the standard quality assurance checks associated with these statistics. In the most recent published waste statistics release, the England ‘waste from households’ recycling rate was 44.9% in 2016, an increase of 0.6 percentage points from the 2015 rate of 44.3%. This rate has remained relatively stable over the last five years. Local authorities are best placed to deliver the recycling services in their area and, with householders, have played a key role in increasing England’s recycling rate to the 44.9% I have mentioned. The 25 Year Environment Plan sets out our commitment to make it even easier for people to recycle and increase the quantity and quality of materials collected and further detail will be set out in the resources and waste strategy that will be published later this year. Through the Framework for Greater Consistency, the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is working with industry and local authorities to ensure that a consistent set of core materials are collected by all local authorities. WRAP provides valuable tools and resources to support local councils to improve their services. Guidance includes food waste collections, cutting contamination and approaches to material sales.

Food: Packaging

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with food producers on reducing the amount of packaging used for food and drink products.

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the hospitality sector on reducing the quantity of single-use plastics in licensed premises.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra officials recently met with Iceland’s Managing Director to discuss their plan to eliminate plastic in their own brands by 2023. Last December the Secretary of State chaired a roundtable with representatives from across the plastic sector to discuss reducing the amount of packaging produced and increasing the level of recycling. In November I also wrote to a number of major retailers to ask about their packaging choices for specific products. There has been no specific engagement with the hospitality sector.

Recycling

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will set targets for recycling rates for the periods (a) by 2020 and (b) by 2030.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We are committed to meeting existing EU targets on recycling of packaging and household waste for 2020 and have no plans to introduce further targets for that date. The resources and waste strategy, to be published later this year, will set out future targets and milestones on this area.

Public Footpaths

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 December 2017 to Question 120348, when Natural England will finalise the allocation of funding for national trails for 2018/19.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Pursuant to my answer of 29 December 2017, business planning and financial allocations for 2018/19 have not yet been completed, and Natural England is not yet in a position to announce the allocation of funding for national trails for 2018/19.

Fisheries: Licensing

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans next to renew the Net Limitation Order.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: There are currently 15 Net Limitation Orders (NLOs) in place around the country. An NLO limits the numbers of licences allowed to fish for salmon and sea trout within that geographical area. They are often combined with fishery specific byelaws and licence conditions that restrict catch numbers, methods and fishing timings for that fishery. Each NLO lasts for up to ten years, so they expire at different times. The current NLO for Southern Region expires in July 2018. Work is currently underway to review this NLO. The Environment Agency is not expecting to recommend an increase in exploitation by nets as a result of this review. Currently only one licence operates in the Southern Region NLO area.

Litter: Beverage Containers

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of responses to his Department's call for evidence on measures to reduce littering of plastic drinks containers, issued on 2 October 2017; and whether he plans to proceed with the introduction of deposit return and reward schemes.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The call for evidence on measures to reduce littering of drinks containers and promote recycling closed on 20 November 2017. This was held by an independent working group. The focus was rigid and flexible plastic, glass or metal drinks containers that are sold sealed, and used for the sale of alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages, often for consumption ‘on-the-go’. The working group is currently analysing responses to this call for evidence and is due to provide advice to Ministers on potential incentives for drinks containers early this year. Any decisions on suitable measures to then take forward will rest with Ministers.

Veterinary Services: Vacancies

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the British Veterinary Association's evidence to the Migration Advisory Committee's Report published in July 2017, if he will add veterinary surgeons to the shortage occupation list before the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: Defra is working closely across Government and with the veterinary sector to ensure that the UK will continue to protect animal health and welfare, public health and food safety, and enable trade in animals and animal products. Together, we are assessing the challenges and opportunities arising from leaving the EU, with the aim of maintaining a flexible and skilled veterinary workforce which meets the UK’s needs for both the immediate and longer term future. The shortage occupation list is based on advice to the Home Office from the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) and is reviewed regularly.

Plastics: Waste Disposal

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage other countries to develop policies to tackle plastic waste.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra and the Department for International Development (DFID) fund alongside other countries the $4.43 billion Global Environment Facility sixth replenishment (2014–18), which has a programme to tackle marine plastic pollution and a number of other projects to improve waste management more broadly. Defra and DFID are working jointly on what more can be done to reduce the amount of plastic waste entering the oceans, including through UK aid. In addition, the UK works through other fora such as the United Nations, G7, G20 and the Oslo and Paris Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic to tackle waste and reduce the impact of plastics.

Agriculture: Antibiotics

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will take steps to make changes to the way data on antibiotic use in farming is collected so that data is broken down into more detail and not only measured by tonnage of the medicines used.

George Eustice: The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) collects and publishes detail of the antibiotic sales data in the Veterinary antibiotic Resistance and Sales Surveillance Report (VARSS) annually. Data are broken down by animal species indicated, antibiotic classes, and route of administration.The VMD is working in partnership with key livestock sectors to develop, facilitate and coordinate antibiotic usage collection systems. Antibiotic usage data were presented for seven livestock sectors in 2017. The VARSS report can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/veterinary-antimicrobial-resistance-and-sales-surveillance-2016

Agriculture: Antibiotics

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of antibiotic use in farming on the rise of antibiotic resistant superbugs.

George Eustice: The use of antibiotics in animal production can be a source of emergence and spread of AMR. As part of the government’s response to the Independent Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, Defra committed to reduce sales of antibiotics for use in livestock by 20% to 50mg/kg by 2018. This target was met two years early. The latest data from 2016 show that sales had fallen to 45mg/kg. Defra is now working with the livestock industry to implement the sector specific targets published in October 2017 to promote reduction in antibiotic use while encouraging best husbandry practice. The UK monitors and publishes the level of resistance in bacteria from food-producing animals annually. The latest data published in 2017 show that overall the rates of resistance have remained relatively stable for most of the bacteria and antibiotics tested and that the level of resistance in E.coli found in chickens has started to decrease.

Foxes: Urban Areas

Sir Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with local authorities on increases in the urban fox population; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We have not had recent discussions with local authorities about increases in the urban fox population.

Chemicals: EU Law

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on New Clause 61 of the EU Withdrawal Bill on 20 December 2017, Official Report, column 1168 whether the standards currently set by REACH will remain in place in the UK, or whether the UK will continue to match its standards to those of REACH after the UK leaves the EU.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Withdrawal Bill will convert current EU law into domestic law wherever practical, giving consumers and businesses as much certainty as possible. This includes laws relating to chemicals. The UK is strongly committed to the effective and safe management of chemicals. That will not change when we leave the EU.While it would not be appropriate to pre-judge the outcome of the negotiations we will discuss with the EU and Member States how best to continue cooperation in chemicals regulation in the best interests of both the UK and the EU.

Curlew: Conservation

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with Bradford District Metropolitan Council on the future of the resident curlew population on Ilkley Moor as a result of the Council’s decision not to renew the shooting lease to the Bingley Moor Partnership.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: There have been no discussions with Bradford District Metropolitan Council about curlews on Ilkley Moor.

Forestry

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to appoint the national tree champion.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The appointment of the Tree Champion is one of the priorities of the recently published 25 Year Environment Plan. The Tree Champion role will promote the benefits that trees deliver, support the tree planting manifesto commitments and co-ordinate a cross government approach to encourage a step change in tree planting. Further details will be agreed in due course, including the date of appointment.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Equality

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to publish its equality objectives for 2017 to 2020.

George Eustice: We published our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategy for the Defra group in January 2017 which sets out our commitments to EDI from 2017 to 2020. This strategy includes our objectives, how we will achieve these and our success measures in accordance with our requirements under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Equality

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which women's or faith-based organisations which are not staff networks his Department has consulted as part of the process to update its equality objectives for 2017 to 2020.

George Eustice: Defra did not consult with any external women’s or faith-based organisations on the content of our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion strategy. However we did consult with our employee diversity networks across the Defra group (including our women’s networks), diversity champions and shared this strategy with trade union colleagues. We are also members of external organisations such as the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion (ENEI) and seek their advice and links to best practice when considering specific actions to achieve our strategic objectives on EDI.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Equality

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people are employed in his Department's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team; and what information his Department holds on how many of those staff are (a) male, (b) female, (c) LGBT, (d) disabled, (e) Christian, (f) Muslim, (g) Jewish, (h) Hindu or (i) other belief or lack of belief.

George Eustice: There are eight people working in the Department’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team, providing EDI support to the Defra group. The department collects diversity data of employees via voluntary self-declaration and this is recorded on our online HR system. We cannot provide the information as requested for the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team as, under the Data Protection Act, the small size of the team would risk the anonymity of our employees.

Environment

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the 25 year environmental plan, what joint work is underway between his Department and the devolved administrations on a framework for a new environmental management system that reflects regional circumstances.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: A new environmental land management system will support farmers and land managers to adopt long term sustainable practices which integrate the production of food and timber with actions to improve the environment. We are working closely with the devolved administrations on an approach to returning powers from the EU that works for the whole of the UK and respects the devolution settlements of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is the Government’s expectation that this will lead to a significant increase in decision-making powers in the devolved administrations. In England, we will work with farmers, food producers and environmentalists to develop a new system.

School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made the potential health benefits of the EU School Fruit and Vegetables Scheme; and for what reasons the Government took the decision to opt out of that scheme.

George Eustice: The aim of getting children to eat more healthily is a priority for the Government, which has run its own highly successful domestic scheme since 2000, predating that of the EU scheme. The UK’s scheme provides one portion of fruit or vegetable per child aged 4 to 6, per day, a level which is over and above that which would be provided through the EU scheme. By doing this the Government is helping to improve children’s health and contributing to a healthier nation through measures laid out in the Childhood Obesity Plan.

Animal Products: Imports

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 27 June 2016 to Question 40644, what progress has been made on implementing the commitment to ban lion trophy imports by the end of 2017.

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 27 June 2016 to Question 40644 on animal products: imports, what assessment his Department has made of whether improvements have been made to the way hunting takes place; which countries have made such improvements; and what criteria have been used to monitor whether improvements have been made by those countries.

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 27 June 2016 to Question 40644 on animal products: imports, which countries have not met the strict criteria referred to in that answer.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We take conservation of endangered species seriously: imports are subject to strict controls under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Imports of hunting trophies of lions and certain other species require both a CITES export permit from the country of origin and an import permit issued by the country of import. The UK will only issue an import permit if it is satisfied that the trophy has been legally acquired. The UK’s CITES Scientific Authority also makes a sustainability assessment, taking into consideration the views of the EU CITES Scientific Review Group (SRG), to confirm that the trade will not be detrimental to the conservation of the species concerned. Imports of hunting trophies of animals, such as African elephants and lions, from various countries have been assessed regularly at meetings of the SRG, most recently at its meeting in November 2017, where the decision to refuse imports of lion hunting trophies from Mozambique, (except from the Niassa reserve), was taken. Other countries from which imports of lion hunting trophies are no longer permitted include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Somalia. In 2016, the then Minister for the Environment, Rory Stewart commissioned a study on lion conservation with respect to the issue of trophy hunting. Defra is currently looking carefully at trophy hunting imports to ensure that they do not impact on the sustainability of endangered species.

Floods: Insurance

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's guidance on insurance companies to making clear whether flooding is covered in policies offered in initial insurance offer letters.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra does not provide guidance to insurance companies on how they communicate their policies to customers. More broadly, Flood Re works with insurers to help their customers understand that it exists to support households at high flood risk to access affordable insurance. It leaves it down to each individual insurer to decide on how they promote the scheme.

Hunting Act 2004

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether officials of his Department have contributed to drawing up draft legislative proposals in respect of the Hunting Act 2004; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government has no plans to amend the provisions in the Hunting Act 2004 and, as the Prime Minister said on 7 January 2018, there will not be a vote on fox hunting during this Parliament.

Home Office

Police: Veterans

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward proposals to encourage the police to recruit ex-servicemen and women to provide armed protection at fixed sites.

Mr Nick  Hurd: Chief officers are responsible for recruitment and for determining the number of armed officers required in their areas. This is based on a thorough assessment of threat and risk, and capability is kept under constant review by the National Armed Policing Lead and the National Police Coordination Centre.

Members: Vetting

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons hon. Members and their staff are not subject to Disclosure and Barring Service checks.

Victoria Atkins: Any individual may request a basic disclosure certificate, which shows unspentconditional cautions and convictions. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 outlines some circumstances where spent cautions and convictions are disclosable and may be taken into account when assessing a person’s suitability for certain positions. Broadly speaking, standard and enhanced criminal record checks are only available in relation to jobs which involve special risks and sensitivities, such as working closely with children or vulnerable adults. Standard and enhanced checks are intended to support employers making safer recruitment decisions when employing people to work with vulnerable peopleThe Disclosure and Barring service has issued guidance on eligibility for a criminal records check and it is available here: www.gov.uk/government/collections/dbs-eligibility-guidance

Firearms: Children

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been (a) charged and (b) convicted for offences under section 46 of the Crime and Security Act 2010 in each year since 2011; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick  Hurd: The Home Office holds data on crimes recorded by the police that are covered by the notifiable offence list. Notifiable offences are those crimes that could possibly be tried by a jury plus a few additional closely related summary offences dealt with by magistrates, such as assault without injury. Crimes covered under section 46 of the Crime and Security Act 2010 are non-notifiable and therefore for not held by the Home Office.

Police Custody: Sanitary Protection

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what protocols are in place to ensure that all women and girls have access to sanitary products while in police custody.

Mr Nick  Hurd: PACE Code C provides requirements for the care and treatment of detained persons. It draws attention to the Detention and Custody Authorised Professional Practice (APP) produced by the College of Policing which provides detailed guidance on particular matters concerning detainee healthcare and treatment, this includes the expectation that officers consider the effect of menopause or menstruation on female detainees’ welfareHowever, in light of concerns raised by the Independent Custody Visiting Association (ICVA), the Home Office is working closely with ICVA and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to identify ways that hygiene and sanitary protection arrangements for female detainees in police custody can be improved. In order to achieve greater consistency across the country, the NPCC is consulting forces on their local policies and procedures concerning hygiene and sanitary protection with a view to developing new comprehensive guidance for officers.Home Office officials are considering whether any revisions to PACE Code C are required to ensure that the specific needs of women in detention are recognised and that there are clear statutory guidelines for police practice, taking into account our duties under the Equality Act 2010.  Alongside this work, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire Rescue Services (HMICFRS) are considering increasing the level of scrutiny when conducting custody inspections to ensure the rights of women are protected and they are treated with dignity. This would involve looking in more detail at operational practices in police custody suites.

Police: Pensions

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of police widows and widowers retaining their right to a pension for life in the event of their re-marriage or co-habitation.

Mr Nick  Hurd: Survivors of officers who were members of the 2006 and 2015 police pension schemes are, since 2006, paid survivor pensions for life.On 18 January 2016, the Police Pensions Regulations 1987 and the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006 were amended to allow widows, widowers and civil partners of police officers in England and Wales who have died on duty and who qualified for a survivor pension after 1 April 2015 to continue to receive their survivors’ benefits for life. Successive governments have been clear that we have a general presumption against making retrospective changes to public service pension schemes. However the Government believes that the arguments for making this change in respect of police officers who died on duty are sufficiently compelling to allow a limited exception in this case.There are no plans to make any further changes to survivor benefits for police pension schemes.

Organised Crime: Drugs

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to issue further guidance on tackling county lines exploitation; and when that guidance will be shared (a) across Government, (b) with the police, (c) the National Crime Agency, (d) local authorities and (e) voluntary sector partners.

Victoria Atkins: In July last year we published guidance on county lines for frontline practitioners to help them identify and respond to county lines exploitation. This guidance has been well received by a wide range of partners including the police, local authorities, and voluntary and community sector organisations.More widely, the National Working Group on County Lines is driving delivery of a programme to tackle the issue of county lines and we will outline further measures in our forthcoming serious violence strategy which will be published in due course.

Bail

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were released on uncharged bail in the (a) year prior to and (b) period since the implementation of the Policing and Crime Act 2017; and for each such period what was the average length of time for which a person was bailed.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been released under investigation by the police under the Policing and Crime Act 2017.

Mr Nick  Hurd: The Home Office does not centrally hold the information requested.

Gender Recognition: Hate Crime

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of recent trends in transphobic hate crime and abuse.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office collects information on the number of hate crimes recorded by the police, by monitored strand - including transgender. The latest statistics are published in the ‘Hate crime, England and Wales, 2016 to 2017’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2016-to-2017In 2016-17 there were 1,248 transgender hate crimes recorded by the police, which constituted a 45% increase on the 858 recorded in 2015-16. This increase was higher than the 29% rise for all hate crimes over the same period, with disability hate crimes being the only strand to have seen a higher rate of increase (53%)The increase in hate crime overall is thought to reflect both a genuine rise in hate crime around the time of the EU Referendum and Westminster Bridge terrorist attack alongside improved identification of hate crime by the police, willingness of victims to come forward and an overall improvement in how police now record crime.Stonewall’s ‘LGBT in Britain’ reports make an important contribution to the evidence base. We will analyse its findings closely in conjunction with the findings from the national LGBT survey, which received over 100,000 responses and included a number of questions on crime and safety.

Home Office: Contracts

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the financial viability of all the companies with which her Department is contracted.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office regularly monitors the financial performance of its strategic suppliers as part of its supplier management processes. As part of the wider Government Commercial Function, the Home Office receives market intelligence from the Markets and Suppliers team, and the department works closely with Crown Representatives who operate at board level with our strategic suppliers and provide insights into company strategy and issues.

Asylum: Housing

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will pause the current asylum accommodation tendering process while an assessment is made of how best to ensure the viability of companies which might bid for such tenders.

Caroline  Nokes: All Home Office contracts are tendered in compliance with the EU Procurement Directives and as part of its tendering process an assessment of financial viability is undertaken, which is in line with best practice and Cabinet Office guidance. The assessment is proportionate to the risk of the procurement being undertaken and is completed on each bidder by independent qualified accountants. The outcomes are considered within the normal tendering governance processes. The recommendations of the independent assessment will be considered alongside any other financial intelligence and insights that are held as part of the wider Government Commercial Function.As the assessment of financial viability is part of the standard procedures undertaken by the Department there is no requirement to pause the current asylum accommodation tendering process.

Randox Testing Services

Louise Haigh: To ask the Home Secretary, what representations her Department received on Randox Testing Services not being compliant with the Forensic Regulator Guideline C-133 in relation to Section 5a of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

Mr Nick  Hurd: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23rd January 2018 UIN123692 and UIN123704.

Immigrants: Detainees

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to introduce a proactive screening process to identify people brought to immigration detention centres who are survivors of sexual and gender-based violence or otherwise recognised as vulnerable under the Adults at Risk policy.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to introduce a proactive screening process to identify before they are detained asylum seekers who are survivors of sexual and gender-based violence or otherwise recognised as vulnerable under the Adults at Risk policy.

Caroline  Nokes: In response to the Stephen Shaw review the Government has introduced a range of measures to identify and safeguard vulnerable people liable to be detained for immigration purposesThe adults at risk in immigration detention policy, which came into force on 12 September 2016 has introduced a case-by-case evidence-based assessment of the appropriateness of detention for any individual, including victims of sexual or gender based violence, who is considered vulnerable, balanced against the immigration control considerations that apply in their case.The policy is supported by the cross-cutting Detention Gatekeeper, which assesses vulnerability and provides challenge to decisions about who enters immigration detention, and scrutinises prospects and speed of removal.The Detention Centre Rules 2001 (Statutory Instrument) and published Home Office guidance provide additional safeguards including individuals being offered a physical and mental examination within 24 hours of admission to detention, a requirement for immigration removal centre doctors to report to the Home Office any special illness or conditions (including torture) that might affect an individual remaining in detention and processes for staff to follow when there has been a change to the physical or mental health of a detainee, or a change in the nature or severity of their identified vulnerability, that may impact on the decision to detain.There are no plans to introduce additional proactive screening processes to identify people before or during immigration detention who are survivors of sexual and gender-based violence or otherwise recognised as vulnerable under the Adults at Risk policy.

Counter-terrorism

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on referrals of foreign terrorist fighters to the Prevent programme; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Ben  Wallace: Data regarding individuals referred to Prevent in 2015/16 was published on 9 November 2017. Similar data relating to 2016/17 will be published this year. This includes the number of individuals referred due to concerns related to Islamist extremism and right wing extremism. However, the data does not state whether the individual is a ‘foreign terrorist fighter’. The 2015/16 data can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/662824/individuals-referred-supported-prevent-programme-apr2015-mar2016.pdfPrevent safeguards people who are vulnerable to radicalisation in a similar way to safeguarding processes designed to protect people from gangs, drug abuse, and physical and sexual abuse.Everyone who returns from taking part in the conflict in Syria or Iraq must expect to be investigated by the police to determine if they have committed criminal offences, and to ensure that they do not pose a threat to our national security. Those who have committed criminal offences should expect to be prosecuted for their crimes under the full range of existing counter terrorism legislation. However any decision on whether to prosecute will be taken by the police and Crown Prosecution Service on a case by case basis.

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the 2017 Annual Report of the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation will be published.

Mr Ben  Wallace: The Government has received the report of the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation on the Terrorism Acts in 2016 and will publish it in due course. The Independent Reviewer’s report covering 2017 has not yet been written.

Islamic State: British Nationals Abroad

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will publish statistics on arrests relating to foreign terrorist fighters in Iraq and Syria and support for Daesh.

Mr Ben  Wallace: The Home Office Statistical Bulletin publishes data about convictions quarterly but does not distinguish those which relate to Syria and Iraq and Daesh. British Citizens who are investigated and charged with offences relating to the conflict in Syria and Iraq will be prosecuted in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.Although official figures do not show how many were Syria or Iraq or Daesh related, of the 97 persons charged with a terrorism-related offence in the year ending September 2017, 30 had been prosecuted (as at the time of data provision to the Home Office, 06 November 2017), 30 of which were found guilty. A further 65 were awaiting prosecution.

Immigrants: Health Services

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is liable to a penalty in respect of late payment of Immigration Health Surcharge reimbursements; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline  Nokes: There is no policy to pay a penalty for the late reimbursement of Immigration Visa fees or charges similar to the Immigration Health Surcharge.The published Immigration Health Surcharge refund SLA is;“You usually get your refund within 6 weeks of getting a decision on your visa application. It can take longer if you appeal or ask for an administrative review after your visa application is refused.”https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/refunds

Visas: Proof of Identity

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what penalties her Department is liable for in respect of the loss of people's identification documents relating to visa applications.

Caroline  Nokes: Should a customer wish to seek reimbursement for the costs of replacing a lost document, they are advised to contact UKVI and they will be dealt with on a case by case basis in accordance with the complaints procedure:https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration/about/complaints-procedure

Police: Emergency Calls

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure operational efficiency at call centres handling 999 calls to the police which will enable resources to be dispatched quickly and without delay.

Mr Nick  Hurd: The handling of 999 calls is an operational matter for the police. It is for elected Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables to decide how their force’s resources are deployed and how best to manage their communications with the public.

Northumbria Police

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers there were in Northumbria Police in each year since 2010.

Mr Nick  Hurd: The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of police officers employed by each police force in England and Wales on a bi-annual basis.The latest available data, which cover the situation as at 30 September 2017, are published in the ‘Police workforce’ statistical bulletin, available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-september-2017Data for previous years, and as at 31 March, can be found in Table H3 of the annual bulletin, available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/629362/open-data-table-police-workforce.ods

Police

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers were employed in (a) West Yorkshire and (b) England in each year since 2010.

Mr Nick  Hurd: The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of police officers employed by each police force in England and Wales on a bi-annual basis.The latest available data, which cover the situation as at 30 September 2017, are published in the ‘Police workforce’ statistical bulletin, available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-september-2017Data for previous years, and as at 31 March, can be found in Table H3 of the annual bulletin, available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/629362/open-data-table-police-workforce.ods

HM Treasury

Soft Drinks: Taxation

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the decision by soft drinks suppliers to repackage the size of their bottles and cans on the revenue to the Exchequer from the soft drinks industry levy.

Robert Jenrick: The latest revenue forecast for the Soft Drinks Industry Levy can be found in ‘Table 2.2’ of the Budget Document, published alongside Autumn Budget 2017. This forecast already accounts for a behavioural response whereby producers lower the sugar content of their drinks, promote lower sugar alternatives and reduce portion sizes.Table 2.2. can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/661380/B2017Table2.2.XLSX

Small Businesses: Loans

Ged Killen: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the relationship between the availability of bank branches and the numbers of loans issued to small and medium sized enterprises.

Ged Killen: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the relationship between the productivity of small and medium sized enterprises and access to physical banking services.

John Glen: The Treasury has no made no such assessments. The decision to open and close branches remains a commercial judgement for banks. However, the impact of closures on communities must be understood, considered and mitigated where possible. The industry’s Access to Banking Standard, launched in May 2017, commits banks to ensure personal and business customers are better informed about branch closures and the reasons for them closing, along with the options they have locally to continue to access banking services, including specialist assistance for customers who need more help. The Access to Banking Standard is monitored and enforced by the independent Lending Standards Board. 99% of personal and 95% of banks’ business customers are now able to withdraw cash, deposit cash and cheques, and make balance enquiries at a Post Office counter via its network of 11,600 branches. At Autumn Budget 2017, my predecessor wrote to the Post Office and UK Finance to ask them to raise public awareness of the banking services available at the Post Office for individuals and SMEs. I look forward to receiving their proposals later this month. More widely, the Government remains committed to supporting SMEs’ access to the finance they need to grow and expand, and has: established the British Business Bank to make finance markets work better for small businesses; supported challenger banks; introduced a bespoke regime for peer-to-peer lending; and made structural interventions such as the Bank Referral Scheme and the SME credit data sharing scheme.

European Investment Bank: Environment Protection

Mary Creagh: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of European Investment Bank funding on the UK's green industry.

Robert Jenrick: The European Investment Bank, and its offshoot, the European Investment Fund, provide financing for infrastructure investment and growth businesses in a range of sectors including in the UK’s green industry, particularly renewable energy. As set out in the joint report on progress during phase 1 of the negotiations, the government considers that there could be mutual benefit from a continuing arrangement between the UK and the EIB, and wishes to explore these possible arrangements in the second phase of negotiations. The government is also continuing to take steps to ensure that finance continues to be available for good infrastructure projects and growth businesses: the UK Guarantees Scheme, which gives government support for private infrastructure finance, has been broadened to offer construction guarantees, and at Budget the Chancellor launched the Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund to support the transition to zero emission vehicles.

Treasury: Beverage Containers

Catherine West: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate has been made of the number of single-use disposable cups that are (a) used and (b) sent for recycling by his Department each year.

Robert Jenrick: HM Treasury does not have information about the use and recycling of disposable cups.Facilities management services in 1 Horse Guards Road are provided to HM Treasury under a 35 year PFI agreement with Exchequer Partnerships Plc. Cups are provided by Exchequer Partnership’s subcontractor.

Cash Dispensing: Fees and Charges

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect on free access to cash of LINK’s upcoming decision on the ATM interchange fee on (a) rural areas and (b) inner-city communities.

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has (a) made to LINK or (b) received from LINK any representations on proposed changes to the ATM interchange fee in the last six months.

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department will ask the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) to intervene following LINK's proposal on the interchange fee should changes to that fee have a detrimental effect on the long-term sustainability of the ATM network and (b) LINK’s Financial Inclusion Programme fails to protect access to ATMs in areas which already face financial exclusion.

John Glen: The Government recognises that widespread free access to cash remains extremely important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers and businesses in the UK. Government has been engaging and will continue to engage with industry, including LINK, to ensure that this access is maintained. The Government has not made any formal assessment of the potential effect of LINK’s proposals to change the interchange fee rate. However, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), which Government set up as an independent regulator in 2015 with a statutory objective to ensure that the UK’s payment systems work in the interests of their users, is monitoring developments within ATM provision, and is conducting ongoing work on the impact that changes may have. The PSR has recently published a summary of their work to date, which can be found at https://www.psr.org.uk/psr-focus/the-UK-ATM-network The PSR has committed to using its powers to act should any of the firms it regulates behave in a way that conflicts with its statutory objectives. LINK has assured us and the PSR that industry is committed to maintaining an extensive network of free-to-use cash machines, and to ensuring that the present geographical spread of ATMs is maintained. LINK intends to bolster its Financial Inclusion Programme, which ensures the provision of ATMs in areas of deprivation, where demand would not otherwise make one viable, and has also committed to protecting all free-to-use ATMs which are a kilometre or more from the next nearest free-to-use ATM.

Funerals: Regulation

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to introduce legislative proposals to strengthen the regulation of the funeral plan market and improve consumer protection.

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received on strengthening the regulation of the funeral plan market.

John Glen: The provision of a funeral plan is defined as a regulated activity and falls within the Financial Conduct Authority’s regulatory remit unless specific exemption criteria are met. This arrangement and these exemption criteria are set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001. This legislation exempts funeral plan providers from the Financial Conduct Authority’s regulatory remit where the following financial arrangements are conducted, which are designed to ensure that the customer’s payments are secure: the customer’s money is held in a trust fund, where more than half of the trustees are unconnected with the funeral plan provider. This trust must be managed by an authorised fund manager and be overseen by a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries; orthe customer’s money is placed in a life insurance policy, issued by an authorised insurer. HM Treasury sets the legislative framework for the regulation of financial services, including the provision of funeral plans, and continues to keep such exemptions under review to ensure the maintenance of effective prudential and conduct standards. HM Treasury regularly engages with external stakeholders and has heard views relating to the funeral plan market from a range of sources, including consumer groups and funeral plan providers.

Global Restructuring Group: Compensation

Sir Michael Fallon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to progress the RBS Global Restructuring Group redress scheme.

John Glen: In November 2016 the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) announced, with the agreement of the Financial Conduct Authority, a Global Restructuring Group (GRG) complaints process overseen by an Independent Third Party, and an automatic refund of complex fees paid by relevant customers in GRG between 2008 and 2013. This scheme is a commercial matter for RBS, and the Government has played no role in the establishment or operation of this scheme. The Government’s shareholding in RBS is managed commercially and at arm’s length by UK Financial Investments (UKFI). RBS retains its own board which is responsible for commercial and operational decisions.

Bank Services: Closures

Luke Graham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assistance the Government plans to make available to communities which have no local bank on account of recent back closures; and if he will make a statement.

John Glen: The Government is committed to improving access to financial services. The decision to open and close branches remains a commercial judgement for banks. However, the impact of closures on communities must be understood, considered and mitigated where possible.The industry’s Access to Banking Standard, launched in May 2017, commits banks to ensure personal and business customers are better informed about branch closures and the reasons for them closing, along with the options they have locally to continue to access banking services, including specialist assistance for customers who need more help. The Access to Banking Standard is monitored and enforced by the independent Lending Standards Board.99% of personal and 95% of banks’ business customers are now able to withdraw cash, deposit cash and cheques, and make balance enquiries at a Post Office counter via its network of 11,600 branches. At Autumn Budget 2017, my predecessor wrote to the Post Office and UK Finance to ask them to raise public awareness of the banking services available at the Post Office for individuals and SMEs. I look forward to receiving their proposals later this month.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2018 to Question 122814, whether it is possible to access 30 hours of childcare without a live childcare account.

Elizabeth Truss: When a parent completes an application for 30 hours free childcare, an online childcare account is created automatically. The majority of parents currently accessing 30 hours free childcare will have a live childcare account. Where a parent becomes ineligible, or chooses not to reconfirm their details, their childcare account will no longer be live, but they can still access 30 hours free childcare for a short period known as a “grace period”. In addition, some parents who have experienced technical difficulties were issued a 30 hours code manually. These parents may not have a live childcare account.

Carillion

Bill Esterson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Economic Secretary to the Treasury of 18 January 2018, Official Report, column 1128, what the timetable is for Lloyds Bank to maintain its support for SMEs affected by the liquidation of Carillion.

John Glen: The Government is aware that the largest UK SME lending banks have set out their plans to help SMEs exposed to the liquidation of Carillion. While the support offered is a commercial decision for each bank to take, the Government will continue to engage with the banking industry on how best to support these small businesses.

Financial Services: Disclosure of Information

Bill Esterson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Economic Secretary to the Treasury of 19 January 2018, Official Report, column 1126, what steps he plans to take to change the culture to enable wrongdoing to be exposed and dealt with.

John Glen: It is important that small businesses have access to the appropriate forum to address their concerns with the financial services that they have received, including where they believe wrongdoing has occurred. The Government welcomes the publication of the Financial Conduct Authority’s paper on small businesses as customers of financial services firms, and is carefully considering its findings.

Cabinet Office

Carillion

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had with (i) Carillion representatives and (ii) Carillion subsidiary representatives since January 2017; who attended those meetings; and what was discussed at each such meeting.

Oliver Dowden: We regularly meet all strategic suppliers. We cannot provide details on individual meetings.

Carillion

John McDonnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much has been paid from the public purse to Carillion in each year for which information is available.

Oliver Dowden: Information on Carillion’s public sector revenue can be found in their annual reports, which are publicly available.

Carillion

John McDonnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, If he will (a) publish the Government's contracts with Carillion and (b) place copies of those contracts in the  Library.

John McDonnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to each contract that the Government currently has with Carillion and its subsidiary companies (a) when each such contract was awarded, (b) which Department or agency awarded the contract, (c) how much each contract is worth and (d) whether the contract is a joint venture.

Oliver Dowden: Since January 2011, details of central government contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search

Government Departments: Carillion

John McDonnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions he has had with other Government Departments on (a) drawing up contingency plans and (b) identifying alternative suppliers to provide the public services previously provided by Carillion.

Oliver Dowden: Our priority is to keep public services running. We have extensive contingency plans and are working hard to minimise any disruption. We have worked closely across government with all affected departments and stakeholders to develop robust contingency plans that enable us to maintain the continuity and mitigate impacts to public services where possible.

Carillion: Insolvency

Bill Esterson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the Government setting up project bank accounts for each public sector project to protect suppliers in the light of the liquidation of Carillion.

Oliver Dowden: Project Bank Accounts (PBAs) are the preferred option by government when it is considered best value for money for taxpayers, and we have made a commitment in the Government Construction Strategy to use PBAs unless there are compelling reasons not to. Over £10bn has been spent in this way on a wide range of projects between 2011 and 2015.

Contracts: Billing

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department has taken (a) generally and (b) in respect of Carillion to monitor and enforce the requirement that prime contractors pay undisputed, valid invoices within 30 days and ensure that such terms are implemented throughout the supply chain since 26 February 2015; and if he will publish performance data for each prime contractor for his Department.

Oliver Dowden: BEIS have recently introduced a payment reporting system, which requires large businesses to report on their UK payment practices and performance. Businesses must report 6 monthly on their payment performance starting with their first full financial year that starts on or after 6 April 2017. Government departments publish their own payment performance data on GOV.UK. We encourage suppliers that have not been paid promptly to report the case to our Mystery Shopper Service, who will investigate on their behalf.

Carillion

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Government contracts were awarded to Carillion (a) individually and (b) as part of a consortium; what the value of those contracts was; to which region and constituent part of the UK those contracts related; which of those contracts were PFI or PF2 contracts; and which such contracts were awarded under joint and several guarantee.

Oliver Dowden: Since January 2011, details of central government contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search

Carillion

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) number (b) type and (c) value of contracts that the Government holds with Carillion that will need to be brought in-house following that company's liquidation.

Oliver Dowden: We are working with the Insolvency Service and the Official Receiver to ensure that public sector services are maintained, robust plans are in place and the Government will continue to deliver all public sector services.

Carillion

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the position of Crown Representative for Carillion was vacant between August and November 2017.

Oliver Dowden: This Government recognises the importance of managing relationships with Strategic Suppliers and their performance on a cross-Government basis, and has developed a range of strategies to do this, including the use of Crown Representatives. The role of Crown Representative for Carillion was vacant for three months between August and November 2017 due to normal staff turnover. During this period, the Crown representative responsibilities were covered by the Government’s Chief Commercial officer and the Cabinet Office Director of Markets and Suppliers.

Billing: Small Businesses

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how his Department monitors and enforces the Prompt Payment Code and regulation 113(2)(c) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

Oliver Dowden: The Prompt Payment Code is administered by the Chartered Institute of Credit Management. The Code is monitored and enforced by their Prompt Payment Code Compliance Board. BEIS have recently introduced a payment reporting system, which requires large businesses to report on their UK payment practices and performance. Businesses must report 6 monthly on their payment performance starting with their first full financial year that starts on or after 6 April 2017. Government departments publish their own payment performance data on GOV.UK. We encourage suppliers that have not been paid promptly to report the case to our Mystery Shopper Service, who will investigate on their behalf.

Northern Ireland Office

Offences against Children: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will make it her priority to meet the victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement.

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what plans she has to implement the recommendations of the Hart Report of 20 January 2017 on compensation for victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara: This Government has always been very clear in its outright condemnation of any form of abuse of children. Any tolerance by people in positions of authority of such activity by others is abhorrent. The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry was established by the Executive and responsibility for implementing Sir Anthony Hart’s recommendations falls to the devolved administration. My Right Honourable Friend, James Brokenshire MP, was very clear that in the absence of an Executive, he would not interfere in devolved matters in Northern Ireland except to the extent that it is absolutely necessary to do so in order to allow public administration to continue and public services to be maintained. Decisions on the direction of devolved public policy are best taken by the elected representatives of the Northern Ireland population. It was those representatives who set up the HIA Inquiry and they are best placed to consider how to implement it. While Northern Ireland Office Ministers start work with the Northern Ireland parties on the restoration of the Executive the above still stands. Northern Ireland Office Ministers assure you we understand and recognise the strength of feeling and frustration around the lack of progress in responding to Sir Anthony's recommendations due to the lack of a functioning Executive. We acknowledge and welcome the detailed preparatory work being undertaken by the Executive Office, and are aware David Sterling, Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, has invited victims and survivors to a briefing in relation to this on 30 January. We would welcome a meeting with victims and survivors after they have been briefed by David Sterling. Progressing the implementation of the Hart recommendations is one of the many reasons we remain determined to get a Northern Ireland Executive back up and running as soon as possible. We continue to urge the Northern Ireland parties to seek urgent resolution to restore the Executive.

Weather: Northern Ireland

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether the Permanent Secretaries of devolved Departments in Northern Ireland have the authority to set up financial support schemes to address damage caused by severe weather conditions.

Mr Shailesh Vara: I sympathise with those who have been adversely affected by severe weather conditions recently. The establishment of financial support schemes for damage caused by severe weather conditions is a devolved matter. As such, it would be a matter for Northern Ireland departments to consider and I have made no assessment as to the powers available to them in this regard. More broadly, the fundamental issue is and remains the absence of Northern Ireland Ministers to take political decisions. The broader strategic decisions needed to tackle some of the key challenges facing Northern Ireland requires political direction to progress. That should be provided by local politicians through a power-sharing Executive, and that is why it is essential that we see devolution restored.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Ministerial Powers

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many ministerial directions were issued to his Department in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017.

Greg Hands: No ministerial directions were issued in 2016 or 2017 to the Department for International Trade.

Department for International Trade: Beverage Containers

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate has been made of the number of single use disposable cups that are (a) used each year and (b) sent for recycling by his Department.

Greg Hands: According to information provided by our service suppliers, we estimate that the department’s catering services use around 300,000 single use disposable cups per year: 50,000 coffee cups and 250,000 plastic water cups. The Department for International Trade (DIT) is a new department and detailed sustainability data is therefore not available for 2016/17.Staff and visitors are encouraged to dispose of waste appropriately and use recycling bins wherever possible. Our service supplier offers a cost incentive for using reusable coffee cups, and we are exploring options to reduce our reliance on plastic water cups.DIT is committed to ensuring its day-to-day operations are environmentally friendly and, as the department develops, we will ensure this is something embedded into our ways of working.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Advisory Council on National Records and Archives

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many documents the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives has withheld in each of the last five years.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many appeals the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives has (a) heard, (b) ruled in favour of and (c) ruled against in each of the last five years.

Margot James: The Advisory Council publishes its own annual report which is laid before Parliament. Since the transition from the 30 year rule to 20 year rule began in 2013, the Advisory Council has collated and published annual figures on closures and retention, and the outcomes of these applications. The Council also reports on the work of its Freedom of Information Panels. The information can be found in its annual reports, available at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/our-role/plans-policies-performance-and-projects/our-performance/

Museums Independent Review

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the Mendoza Review of November 2017; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Ellis: John Glen, as Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, gave the government’s response to the publication of the Mendoza Review, welcoming and accepting its findings. The response is available here https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-response-to-the-mendoza-review-an-independent-review-of-museums-in-england. We are now implementing the recommendations of the Mendoza Review and accompanying Strategic Review of DCMS-sponsored Museums. Delivering these recommendations, particularly those focused on how funding bodies can better support museums and on partnership-building across the sector, will strengthen and improve the environment in which our world-leading museums can thrive.

Carillion

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the liquidation of Carillion on the roll-out of broadband across the UK.

Margot James: The department does not foresee the liquidation of Carillion impacting our ability to deliver on the government's broadband roll out programme.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Carillion

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what contracts his Department has with Carillion.

Margot James: Zero.

Prime Minister

Food Banks: Maidenhead

Liz Twist: To ask the Prime Minister, how many times she has visited food banks in Maidenhead constituency in her official capacity.

Mrs Theresa May: Details of Ministerial UK official visits and official meetings with external organisations and individuals are published quarterly and made available on the gov.uk website.

Women and Equalities

Local Government: Equality

Martyn Day: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what plans she has to enforce Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010 for Local Authorities.

Victoria Atkins: This Government is committed to creating a country that works for everyone, where success is based on merit, not privilege, and where everyone has the chance to go as far as their talents and hard work will take them. That is why the Government has in place a number of strategies to address social mobility and improve outcomes for those who experience disadvantage.Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010 is the public sector duty regarding socio-economic inequalities, which has not been commenced. The Government has no plans to commence or enforce the duty because we believe that specific programmes designed to address social mobility problems in particular areas will be a more effective approach than blanket legislation of this type.

Women and Equalities Select Committee

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Government Response to the Seventh Report of the Women and Equalities Committee, HC799,  published on 12 September 2017, on how many occasions the cross-government working group on equalities has met since its establishment and if she will publish the minutes and decision-record from the meetings.

Victoria Atkins: The cross-government working group has met on three occasions. The minutes of these meetings relate to policy discussions on the UK’s exit from the EU that it would not be appropriate to publish.